God Can Do Great Things with Small Things

John 6:1-13

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

Isn’t it amazing to read about the way our Savior turned such a small meal into an abundant feast? Think for a moment about the loaves of bread and the fish. In the boy’s hands…it was one meal. In the disciples’ hands…it was merely an appetizer. But in the Lord’s hands…it was a miracle! God can do great things with small things.

I am sure there have been times in your life when you have also seen God do great things with small things. Maybe it was a time when your child sang “Jesus Loves Me” for you in front of some friends that were not believers. Maybe it was the joy you experienced when you first made the commitment to the Lord to tithe. Or maybe it was the time you invited someone to Sunday School, and they became a devoted follower of Christ. God can do great things with small things.

One of my favorite verses states that “[God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Eph. 3:20). Right now, what are you asking God to help you with, and what are you thinking God is capable of doing with your life, faith, family, and so forth? Today, open up your hands to God and freely give Him all you are holding on to. Trust Him to do what only He can do in and through you. Then someday in heaven you’ll be able to speak with the boy from our Bible story, and you, too, can say that God truly can do great things with small things.