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“Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.” Luke 9:16 (NIV)

I don’t know about you, but often I find myself wishing for more. More time in the day to do the things I need to do plus the things I want to do. More financial security, so I never have to worry about the future. More space in my home for entertaining. I have a closet full of clothes, but I want more so that I always have just the right thing to wear for every occasion. And don’t we all find ourselves longing for more peace…in the world, our country, our families and sometimes even in our churches? We want more when what we have doesn’t seem like enough.

Jesus, when faced with the very real problem of not having enough food to feed a hungry crowd of over five thousand, gave us the prescription for this dilemma. With just five loaves and two fish, looking up to heaven, He gave thanks.

This simple formula helps us in two ways. First, looking up to heaven helps us distinguish between real needs and those things we desire. When my focus is on Christ, it is easier for me to see this. God promises to meet my needs so if it is a genuine need, I can rest in His promise. In the same way He provided manna, quail and water for the Israelites in the wilderness, He will meet my needs and yours. Secondly, when we give thanks for what we already have to the One who is the giver of all things, our gratitude and trust increases. When our trust increases, we can accept that what God doesn’t provide, we don’t really need.

Throughout Scripture God promises to care for our needs. In Matthew 6, Jesus says: “ …do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Sweet friends, we can trust God to meet our needs…even when what we have doesn’t seem like enough.

“Lord, we all know that sense of longing for more. When it comes, gently remind us to look up to heaven and give thanks for what we already have, trusting that You love us and will meet our every need.”

For His Glory

Ann Skalaski
TRBC Women’s Life