There are things happening in your life right now that you don’t understand. Things you can’t control. However, there are clues all around you to remind you of who IS in control. Reminders of how you’ve always been taken care of. Leftovers of what has happened for you before.
What leftovers do you have? Leftovers of the last miracle God pulled off for you. Leftovers of the last ridiculous blessing you didn’t deserve. Leftovers of provision that was more than enough. Those leftovers are for a purpose, and perhaps it’s a purpose that is perfectly timed for what is happening right now.
The Bible tells us a story about leftovers. In fact, there are 4 accounts of this story so I recommend reading each of them. They are: Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-14. This is a story of abundance that proved Jesus’ power over impossible odds. But before there were leftovers, there was a need with an grossly insufficient supply. Of course the story is the feeding of the crowd, but this story goes beyond the feeding. This story goes directly to your boat today to meet you where you are and remind you of what God has done.
5,000 men plus their families had gathered to hear Jesus teach. They had stayed all day to listen to his every word, and they grew hungry. The only food available in the crowd was carried by a young boy, a measly 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. And Jesus says, that’s enough. What you have is enough. In fact, it will be more than enough! Jesus fed every person there all they could eat from the bread and fish that never ran out.
Out of curiosity, I wanted to understand the magnitude of this miracle. Many people believe this food given by a young boy in the crowd was his lunch packed that day by his mother. The loaves of bread were more like crackers and the 2 small fish were something like sardines. Others say the fish were likely smoked tilapia and the bread were small loaves of barley. But really, it doesn’t matter. It’s still absolutely ridiculous to think it could feed a crowd of 5,000 men PLUS their families.
So, as a visual, I asked ChatGPT, if you had a large Papa John’s pizza and you split it evenly among 5,000 men (I’m not even including their wives and children), how much would each man receive? The answer: About 0.16% of a single slice. That’s roughly the size of a crumb or a small flake of cheese. Everyone gets a microscopic taste, just enough to say they participated.
But, in the hands of Jesus, it became MORE THAN ENOUGH. Every account of this story says EVERYONE ate as much as they wanted.
Afterwards, Jesus told the disciples to gather the leftovers. Yes, the leftovers were important. 12 baskets full of leftovers. This is significant. The leftovers mattered. Proof of miraculous provision. Evidence of God’s power in personal matters.
What would these leftovers become? They show up one more time in scripture and I believe it’s just for you and I to see today.
After the feeding of the crowd, and the gathering of the leftovers, Jesus instructs his disciples to get on a boat and leave. Later that night they find themselves in a battle with the winds blowing against them. Jesus comes walking out on the water to them and scares the bejesus out of them. You know the bejesus … have you ever had the bejesus scared out of you? You see something and you’re like “oh, be Jesus, be Jesus, please be Jesus.” The “be Jesus” came right out of you. Well, the disciples thought he was a ghost on the water and the bejesus is scared out of them, and then they realize it actually IS JESUS.
Peter has a moment of bold courage and walks on the water with Jesus, then the waves come and he starts to sink, Jesus saves him, then Jesus gets in the boat and the waters calm down. Awesome, good story. But there’s one more thing.