The Impact of a Drop

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” 

                                                               -- John 6:5-9

The people were hungry.  The disciples were dumbfounded.  A small boy offered his lunch.  In today's world, we are too often like the disciples who look at small acts and scoff, looking at the contribution and analyzing the details.  We end up doing nothing since we can't see how it could possibly make any impact.  Why put forth the effort if it won't make a difference?  It's just a drop in the ocean.

Even though Jesus had just been doing all kinds of miraculous stuff that day through His compassion and healing touch, the disciples somehow forgot about His power when considering those basic things, like hunger.  How often do we do the same?   We must be willing to do those small acts believing they will make an impact

        -- not because the act itself is great, 

                        but rather the God who works in it.  

The truth is that it doesn't even cost that much a lot of times.  For the boy, it was one lunch out of a lifetime.  For us, it could be that card, a shared afternoon over coffee, or even just a joke at the post office counter to get that one teller to smile.  Yes, we must be willing to obey God in doing those things that could cost us everything, that's a part of our surrender.  But let us also be intentional with the small everyday things too, recognizing God's role in these simple acts of faith.   Let us live deliberately with the love of Christ and believe God can do the miraculous.  He just might surprise us with the magnitude in the process.  Afterall, a simple drop, weighted with the power of God can create quite the ripple effect, transforming the whole surface of the water and affecting everything in it's path.

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).  Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”  So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

                                                                 -- John 6:10-14

Today, I am challenging you to think of simple ways you can live and act in faith. 
There is a world hungry for hope.  What will you do?

For more about simple acts of faith, visit Bonnie at Faith Barista.

And Then We'll Pray Some More...

Let's just be honest...  It has been rough year the world over and we are just over halfway through.  From an already desperate economic climate to the Japanese tsunami, and now in the wake of the senseless brutality of the Oslo shootings and more we also have man-made destruction in the city of London.  The modern age has brought the world so much closer and social networking, amongst other technologies, have given us real-time feeds of life on the other side of the world.  This is how in fact, I was able to learn last night that my friend was upstairs in her flat in Southeast London as looters ransacked the Tesco just down the street, worrying how close they would come to her.  Some wonder what we can do in times like this when we are geographically distant or simply emotionally shocked by the terrors around us.  To simply answer with a word "Pray" sounds too cliche, too weak, too... easy.  Maybe that would be the case if God were not real, but He is real, and He is able. 

It isn't about the words we say 

                    -- it is about the God to whom we say them. 

So what do you say; shall we pray some more?  For some more insight on this most recent event, give a listen to this short video by Pete Greig of 24-7 Prayer. 

Pete Greig is the founder of the 24-7 movement and Director of Prayer for Holy Trinity Brompton, in London. He and his family live in Guildford, England, where they are actively engaged with establishing a new missional (‘Boiler Room’) community. Pete’s books include Red Moon Rising, The Vision and The Vow and God on Mute.