Mark 6:37-44: in context

Faced with a hungry multitude of thousands in a remote place, the disciples want Jesus to send the people away. But he tells them, you give them something to eat. They protest that it would take a fortune to feed so many; and when he asks what they have, they find only five loaves and two fish, a hopelessly inadequate amount for such a crowd. Yet Jesus takes the five loaves and two fish, looks up to heaven, blesses and breaks them, and gives them to the disciples to distribute. And all five thousand eat and are filled, with twelve baskets of leftovers.

The heart of this miracle is that Jesus took the little that was available and multiplied it beyond what it could ever do on its own. Five loaves and two fish were nothing against the need; the disciples saw only their inadequacy, only how little they had against how much was required. But Jesus did not despise the little; he took it, blessed it, and made it more than enough, feeding thousands with baskets left over. The inadequate became abundant in his hands; the little offered was multiplied beyond all reckoning. This holds a lesson about the little we have to offer. We often look at our own resources, our small abilities, limited means, meager gifts, and see only their inadequacy against the need. Like the disciples, we conclude that what we have is not enough, that it cannot possibly meet the need before us, and we are tempted to despair of it or withhold it as useless. But this miracle shows that God takes the little we offer and multiplies it. The five loaves would have fed no one if the disciples had kept them, despairing of their smallness; but offered to Jesus, they fed thousands. The little we bring, inadequate as it seems, becomes in God's hands more than it could ever be on its own. This calls us to offer our little rather than despising it. We are not asked to have enough in ourselves; we are asked to bring what we have to God, however small, and let him multiply it. The boy's few loaves, offered, fed a multitude; and our small gifts, abilities, and means, offered to God, can accomplish far more than their size suggests. God is able, Paul says, to make all grace abound to us, that we may abound in every good work. This frees us from the paralysis of feeling inadequate. We need not have enough; we need only offer what we have and trust God to multiply it. The disciples had almost nothing, and in Christ's hands it fed thousands; and the little we bring, offered rather than withheld, is enough for God to work with, multiplied by him beyond what it could do on its own. Bring your five loaves and two fish, small as they are, and offer them; and let God do with them what only he can.

When I look at my own resources, abilities, and means and see only their inadequacy against the need before me, am I tempted to despair of them or withhold them as useless, and can the five loaves that fed thousands in Jesus' hands teach me to offer the little I have rather than despising it, trusting that God takes what we bring, however small, and multiplies it beyond what it could ever do on its own?