God Still Uses What We Offer For His Glory!

Likely, you are familiar with the Feeding of the 5000 and even the Feeding of the 4000, but have you ever heard of the story of the Feeding of the 100? What’s fascinating about this Old Testament story is how it gives us just one more glimpse into what was in store for this earthly world as it awaited the coming Messiah. The story is short and sweet - a mere four verses.

We find it nestled into 2 Kings 4. Verses 42-44 record that a man traveled to see the prophet Elisha, and he came bearing gifts - 20 loaves of barley bread. When Elisha saw the bread, he gave instructions to the man to “Give it to the people to eat.” Now, we have no record of how big those loaves were, but apparently the problem was obvious to the bread man immediately because he asked Elisha, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” Without hesitation, Elisha assured him that there would be plenty to go around. And, just like in the miraculous multiplications in the New Testament, not only was there enough bread for the 100 men, but they had plenty of leftovers as well!

In contrast to the 4000-5000 feedings, this story of "only 100" may seem a bit underwhelming, but is it? Have you ever been at a fellowship meal at church or had unexpected company show up at your house and had no clue how you would feed them all? Just one extra person can throw me into a whirlwind of terror, and I typically have access to a well-stocked pantry and a nearby grocery store!

Whether stretching 20 loaves to feed a 100, 7 loaves and a few fish to feed 4000 or 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed 5000, God has always been in the business of meeting needs and blessing us through His miraculous power! Think about it this way. When was the last time you thought, “Man, I’ve got a lot of clothes!” or “I hate to throw all this food out, but we never got around to eating it." In North America, I’m afraid we’re often pretty oblivious to the abundant blessings that are a part of our everyday life. Even more so, I don't think we can even begin to comprehend how God is multiplying our offerings (not necessarily money) and that of our churches to bless others.

For over 25 years, our church has supported a missionary family who serves in Kenya. We’re always blessed to hear their testimony of the many ways they have seen Christ working in their lives and in their ministry. A few years ago, this couple asked Denny and I to come and see their work, and through God’s unlimited resources and grace we were able to go. We prepared ourselves to absorb all we could, and we looked forward to seeing where our friends and partners in Christ lived. We hoped to even meet some of those they had touched with the gospel message and the love of Christ. What we weren’t prepared for was to see how God had multiplied our efforts for Christ’s glory.

Because our friends lived in a compound environment, they were encouraged to hire locals to help with household tasks and lawn care. This arrangement would not only help them manage their busy schedules, but more importantly, it would help the local economy and foster relationships with the nationals. In learning this aspect of the ministry, we now understood that by supporting these missionaries through prayer and finances, we were also helping to support a couple of local families. That was exciting, but that wasn’t the end of the story.

God’s bigger picture was revealed through a small gift we had been asked to bring along with us to Kenya. A young local man was trying to begin a new business as an auto mechanic, but he needed a few more tools to really sustain the work. We were more than glad to bring this gift of tools along with us, and we looked forward to meeting the young entrepreneur. Unaware of the treasures headed his way, when the young man received this unexpected gift he was overjoyed. What was only a matter of a few dollars to us had the prospect of changing his future. We were blessed in our giving and were thrilled that we could play a small part in partnering with him in this new venture.

What later brought us even greater joy was totally unexpected. Not only did we partner with this mechanic by sharing a gift of tools, but we later learned that he was the son of the part-time gardener who'd been employed by our missionary friends for years. As we were faithful in supporting our friends in their mission work, we had unknowingly been supporting this young man all of his life because our monthly support allowed his father to be employed by our friends. 

We had no idea how far-reaching God had been blessing our gifts. From our missionaries, to the gardener, to his family - and now specifically to his son. God had used our partnership of the gospel with these missionaries to multiply our effort for Christ’s sake, and in that, we found great joy and humility of heart. We have no doubt that God only gave us a little glimpse of all that His mighty hand had been doing in their midst, but we are eternally grateful to see how He multiplied our simple gifts for His glory!

Often, we only get to see a very small part of God's big picture and how He is blessing what we offer to Him. Our gifts of “bread and a few little fish” are as simple as a prayer, an extra love offering, a note of encouragement or a listening ear. Each gift, however, has the potential of being abundantly blessed and of eternal significance. So, the next time you wonder how your seemingly unnoticed or insignificant effort is making a difference in God’s kingdom, take a step back and acknowledge that God is writing a much bigger story and how blessed we each are to be a part of that abundant multiplication process!

*Note: Accounts of the Feeding of the 4000 and the Feeding of the 5000 are found in Matthew 14 & 15 and Mark 6 & 8.