Never Enough

" ⁵ Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” ⁶ He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do.
⁷ Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”
⁸ One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ⁹ “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”
¹⁰ Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”
There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.
¹² When they were full, He told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” ¹³ So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten."
John 6:5-13 

Today, we're are so incredibly blessed with studying the Gospel of John chapter 6. As you probably already know, it contains one of the most familiar stories about Jesus. It seems that most everyone know the story, most of you probably became familiar with it in Bible study as a child. The feeding of the five thousand, it is the only miracle that Jesus performed that is recorded in all four Gospels. Therefore, its not difficult for us to conclude, this was of great importance, and significance. In John 6:4, we read that it occurred during the Passover season about one year before Christ’s death.

First, let's bow our heads in prayer.

Heavenly Father,

Father, we thank You for the honor and privilege of gathering today, for the time we been blessed with to be in Your Word. We are so grateful and incredibly blessed for this text today, thank You for this provision. We thank You, Holy Spirit, for giving us the Word and the record of these things to guide us throughout our daily lives.

Lord, we pray for unity, protection, and provision for our church family. We pray that we would personally and corporately seize every opportunity, as they present themselves, for us to be salt and light, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus. Father, we pray that You would bless every life and confirm the truth in every heart among us, near and far.
In Jesus' name
Amen

We depend on God for every morsel, every bite of food, however, it seems as though many haven't figured that out, yet. I Thessalonians 5:18: "Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." Well, it’s really not a problem to obey that command when your provision is adequate and plentiful. When you have enough of everything you need. But, the real test of faith comes when you are asked to be thankful for not enough! 

You’ve worked hard all week, get your check on Friday. You take one look at your check, when you get home, you look at your bills and then look at your check again; you quickly discover, that you don’t have enough to meet your financial obligations! At the end of the month, it always seems as though you have more month than money. Its a never ending cycle of frustration, but it doesn't have to be! Can we still be thankful for not enough? I believe we can. 

Jesus and the disciples were faced with a similar situation in the text. Jesus and the disciples were attempting to find some time alone, but the when the crowd saw them, they followed them and wouldn't leave them alone. Mark says that when Jesus saw the crowd, he had compassion on them, they were like sheep without a shepherd, so he began to teach them many things. 

It was getting late and the crowd had been with Jesus all day, so the disciples came to him and said: “Send them away so that they might go and get some food, for the day is far spent and the hour is late and we are here in a lonely place” But Jesus told them: “You give them something to eat!” It is at that point that we see the first “not enough” in the story. 

First, because they have been with Jesus all day, there was not enough time for them to go and buy provisions for themselves. If they had gone away, by the time they got to the market places, the markets would be closed! Somebody here today, knows what it means to not have enough time! But you still need to be thankful for not enough!

Mark says “they said,” but John identifies the spokesman as Philip, who said “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One denarius was a day’s wage; therefore, this would have been about eight months’ wages! Now, the text gives no indication how Philip came up with this particular amount. Perhaps it was the amount of money they had in their treasury, but Philip’s point was: “We don’t have enough money to buy enough bread to feed all these people!” In other words, Philip and the rest of the disciples thought that Jesus was asking them to do the impossible! That was the second ‘not enough,’ there was not enough money! And, I really don’t have to elaborate on that point, do I? Because, all of us know what it means to have not enough money!

So, while Philip was explaining why it couldn’t be done, Andrew was busy looking for a way it could be done! The Synoptic writers record Jesus as asking them to go and see how many loaves they could find, but only John reveals the source of the provisions. Andrew reports to Jesus: “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?”

In other words, “Jesus, we found something; but it’s not enough!” Yes! This story is filled with ‘not enough!” There was not enough time for the crowd to go and buy food! There was not enough money for the disciples to buy food to feed the crowd! And the two fish and five barley loaves of bread were not enough food to feed five thousand men, not counting women and children!

We've all been faced with ‘not enough’ situations, am I right? I believe, however, we must learn to guard our attitudes and dispositions! Because, if we are not careful, not enough will cause us to become anxious and complain! Have you ever met someone who is always complaining about not having enough? What most of these people fail to realize is that part of the reason they don’t have enough is because they are always complaining that they don’t have enough!

Scripture says: “A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.” In other words, what we believe and say with conviction on a consistent basis will ultimately find fulfillment in the circumstances of our lives! It’s self-fulfilling prophecy! They never have enough because they believe and consistently speak they will never have enough! If you are one of these people, you need to change your vocabulary and increase your faith! You need to quit speaking about what you don’t have, and start speaking about what you want to have! The Bible teaches: "Let the weak say: ‘I am strong!" The point is, the more you gripe and complain; the more you will have to gripe and complain about! Amen?

Jesus did not complain that the two fish and five barley loaves were not enough! In fact, the Bible says that Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks! That’s the point I really want to drive home today! Beloved, we have got to learn to be thankful, even when we think it’s not enough! You see, sometimes, what we think is not enough, is actually more than enough! What they had was not enough in their hands! But when they placed it in the hands of Jesus; it was more than enough!

I believe the difference was in the thanksgiving! The disciples resented not enough; but Jesus was thankful for not enough! The disciples despised not enough, but Jesus embraced not enough! The disciples saw not enough as a problem, but Jesus saw not enough as an opportunity! You see, often the difference between frustration and fulfillment, between success and failure, between poverty and provision, is in how you respond to your not enough situations! And I don’t care who you are! It doesn’t matter your financial status or social standing; everybody has and everybody will face some not enough situations! But, when you are faced with a not enough situation; what do you do? How do you respond? Do you gripe and complain? Or do you choose to give praise and thank God that not enough, is more than nothing at all!

Because, that’s the key! Life never leaves you with nothing: Life always leaves you something! But, I'd like to point out, that sometimes the 'not enough' really is enough! It only seems to be not enough because you misunderstand and misappropriate its purpose! Allow me to explain what I’m talking about, sometimes, the not enough is not meant to be fruit to be consumed, but rather seed to be planted! However, frustration comes about when we eat or consume that which was meant to be planted!

The disciples were frustrated by the two fish and five barley loaves of bread because they thought they were not enough for the crowd to consume. Jesus was thankful for the two fish and five barley loaves of bread because he knew he was going to use them as seed to grow a miracle to feed the multitude!

There are many people who don’t pay their tithes or give offerings unto the Lord because they think, if they do, they will not have enough to pay their bills. Many seem not to understand, the tithe is a seed! But do you understand that you can’t harvest a crop unless you plant seed! Many of us are suffering today because, instead of planting our seed, we’re trying to eat our seed! And when we eat our seed, we will never have enough! Why? Because the seed is not meant for consumption, the seed is meant for a harvest after it has been planted!

Jesus was thankful for not enough! The Bible says Jesus took the loaves and the fish and began to bless and brake them! That’s where the miracle took place; in between the blessing and the breaking! As Jesus blessed and broke, the pieces of bread and fish multiplied. Well, I told you a few minutes ago how dangerous to complain, because the more you complain; the more you will have to complain about! Well, guess what? The opposite is true also! The more thankful you are; the more you will have to be thankful for! That’s why you its critical to live life with an attitude of thanks and gratitude!

Jesus took the bread and the fish and blessed and broke the pieces. Then he gave it to the disciples and the disciples gave it to the crowd. As Jesus was thanking, blessing and breaking, the disciples were passing to the multitude and a miracle took place! The bread and the fish began to multiply.

Don't worry, I’ll be finished in a minute, but first, I want to make sure we understand this! I want you to pay attention and think about when the miracle took place! The miracle didn’t take place ‘before’ they needed it; No! The miracle took place ‘as’ they needed it! Do you get it?

We are often tempted to become anxious, complaining about not having enough because we don’t see the need being met before the needs to be met! In other words, we want to wait until we can see the proof of something happening before we praise the Lord!

Beloved, we have got to learn to thank Him in advance! Don’t wait until the battle is over! Get up on your feet and shout now! Because, although you can’t see it in the natural; the victory has already been won! The Bible says: “They all ate and were satisfied!”

Before we go, I think we need to know who they all were! We call this; the feeding of the five thousand, but that’s an inapplicable title. Because there were quite possibly, well over twenty thousand people who ate and were satisfied! The five thousand was only the number of men; it didn’t include the women and children!

After they had all eaten and were full, John says that Jesus told the disciples: “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” I’ve got a few more things to say and then I’m done!

In Closing....

Before we go, I want you to notice, that when they started out, they had 'not enough', but they ended up with more than enough! Somebody hearing this message needs to know today that sometimes the most important thing is not in how you start, but rather in how you finish!

If you are dealing with not enough today; don’t complain about your not enough! Give thanks for your not enough and then put it in the hands of Jesus, and praise Him! Because, what is not enough in your hands is more than enough in the hands of Jesus!

Jesus said: “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost!” When the Lord takes your not enough and turns it into more than enough; you need to be careful how you handle the leftovers! Don’t forget to pick up the pieces! Sometimes, we are faced with a not enough situation this time, only because we were not faithful with the leftovers last time!

We have to learn how to handle the leftovers! I know some people think they are just too good for the leftovers, but allow me to just say, the leftovers are a defense against the future not enough!

How you handle the leftovers will determine if you will continually face not enough situations. If you are faithful with the leftovers, God will always make sure to supply your need, not according to your need, but according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!

Oh beloved! Be not dismayed whatever situation arise; because God will take care of you! Beneath His wings of love abide; God will take care of you! Through every day, all the way. God will take care or you! Scripture teaches us, "But He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4

God will take care of you, but what are you going to do with the leftovers? 

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

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