Broken pieces

Part of the Whole

“And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Can these pieces ever be enough to meet the enormous need in front of me?

I am sure that Jesus’ disciples must have said - or thought - something similar when they were faced with a massive crowd that afternoon and Jesus instructed them: ‘you feed them.’…

Have you ever felt like this? Overwhelmed by the enormous need in front of you or consumed with the gripping reality of the broken pieces you have in your hand?

I am sure you must have heard or read the account in the Gospel of Matthew where he tells us that Jesus fed more than five thousand people with only five loaves and two fish. The story is summed up in nine verses; and I bet that there must have been nine thousand takes on that story if told from the perspective of each person who was there… from the hungry screaming toddler to the usually hyperactive but now almost dying of hunger young boy; to the shy or laid back teenager who was ready to swallow the fives loaves whole, to the mother who did not pack enough for her hungry children with hunger gnawing at her stomach too; to even the elderly man or woman who never thought they would live to see the day…

This account is filled with so many morsels of truth for us to feed on; let’s look at a few:

The Backdrop

Jesus had just found out that his cousin, John the baptist had been beheaded; the one about whom Isaiah prophesied- here is a voice shouting in the desert make straight the way, that the King of Glory may enter in; the one who baptised Jesus; the one who lept in His mother’s womb when the pregnant Mary walked in, the one of whom Jesus said in all of Israel there was no equal.

“John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus was in a place of deep need for solitude. He was busy facing loss and grief and it made Him acutely aware of His own suffering that would soon begin. And yet…

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How beautiful is the compassion of Jesus amidst His own needs.

Hanging on to what is whole

The little boy who brought the five loaves and the two fish could never have known that thís could happen to his lunch! When what you hold dear is placed in the All-Knowing and All-Loving hands of Jesus, the impossible and miraculous can easily happen. The story may have been so different if he had insisted on keeping what he had to contribute ‘whole’.

Perhaps we too hold on to those things in our hands that we would like to keep whole, preserved and stored away. But no matter how generous we may be, our own hands are often too small to hold what His hands have capacity for. An in keeping something whole, we may just be limiting its capacity to be shared.

In the hands of God

““We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭17‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬

Jesus took what was available and chose to use the hands of His disciples to do what they thought would be impossible. Looking down at the broken pieces they had to offer the hungry crowd may have been terribly discouraging, yet the disciples knew the One who broke the bread.

In the hands of God, what seems insufficient becomes more than enough. In the hands of God, what seems lacking becomes super-abundant. In the hands of God, what seems ill-fitting meets the need.

The value of what we have to offer changes once it is placed in the hands of God.

What are we holding?

When we become obsessed with either keeping what we have whole and preseved or we become so absorbed staring down at the broken pieces we have to offer we may miss what God is able to do in and through our lives. The key is opening up our hands and trusting Jesus to speak life and blessing over it, even if we may not be able to hold on to its prior shape or form. Resting in the knowledge that whatever He chooses to use in and through our lives is good enough because He makes what seems lacking, abundant.

He can take what is broken and use it for His glory!

He can take what seems insufficient and use it to meet an overwhelming need!

He can soften our hearts to not only see but also meet the overwhelming need around us.

He can offer His wholeness to us and through us to a broken world around us.

He can take what is broken and use it to speak of His wholeness!

• May you bring what you have in your hands to Jesus and trust His Word and His Way over your life.

• May you trust that through His Truth spoken over your life, even that which may seem broken, will have the capacity to meet the need that is in front of you.

• May you trust that in and through Jesus not a single piece of what was placed in His hands, no matter how broken, will ever go to waste.

• May you find that when you feast on Him you are fully satisfied!

• May brokeness remind you that you are part of the Whole

• And may you remember that Jesus offered up His whole body, the Bread of Life, as He entrusted Himself to the Father, so that by His body being broken for us, there may be healing, wholeness and restoration for us in Him. In thís life and in the life to come! Amen

“They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In Him

katryn