The Miracle of Giving

‘Test me in this,‘ says the Lord Almighty, ‗and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of 

heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.‘ 

Malachi 3:10 

I fully recognize and acknowledge that the miracles recorded in the gospels have to be accepted 

on faith, and that such miracles today are not to be expected.  Still, there are lessons to be 

learned.  The Feeding of the Five Thousand, for example, is the only miracle performed by Je- 

sus mentioned in all four gospels.  

Whether because of the pressing crowds, or news that His cousin John The Baptist had been 

beheaded, or perhaps a combination of both, a certain fatigue probably prompted Jesus and his 

apostles to cross the Sea of Galilee by boat to enjoy a little respite.  Sensing His move, however, 

a large crowd of followers (including about five thousand men plus women and children) impul- 

sively went around the lake, disregarding the cost in physical strain and lack of provisions.  

When both groups intersected at the other side of the lake, a dilemma presented itself:  A huge 

multitude of people was literally famished, it was late in the day, and there wasn‘t near enough 

food to feed so many folks.  Jesus, filled with compassion, took what meager scraps could be 

found, and miraculously fed every person with more leftovers than He started with. 

Imagine this conversation: 

The disciples:  "We see a really genuine need out there." 

Jesus:               "So...Fix it." 

The disciples:  "But we don't have the resources!" 

Jesus:               "What do you have?" 

The disciples:  "What you see is all we've got..." 

Jesus, filled with compassion:  "We'll make it work." 

This is where my curiosity sometimes gets me in trouble.  What if there had been 10,000 men 

plus women and children?  What if there had only been two loaves or only one fish?  Could Je- 

sus still have performed this miracle?  No matter how I try to stack the deck the answer still 

comes out the same, "YES!"  The Lord is not limited in what He is able to achieve based on the 

size of our contribution. 

Budgets and planning are a necessary responsibility and giving is a commandment, but that‘s 

not why we give.  We give because Christ's love compels us.  We give as an act of faith.  We 

give to put God to the test!  It is one of those unexplainable enigmas that the more we give, the 

greater exponentially the miracles are. 

The whole process works best when we, as God's handiwork and faithful servants, are a people 

who passionately look for needs that need to be met; who look for crusades that need soldiers; 

who look for broken hearts that need mending; who see wrongs that need to be righted.  We 

don't have enough resources to get it all done, but we DO have a Lord who is not limited by the 

constraints that bind us. 

Keith Morgan 

Abilene, Texas