Building the Kingdom of God; There is ENOUGH

April 19

Read: Matthew 14:13-21, Matthew 15:32-39, John 2:1-11

Building the Kingdom of God;

There is ENOUGH

“Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.’” (Matt 15:32)

“And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.” (Matt 14:20)

In the Kingdom of God there is ENOUGH. In fact, there is often times MORE than enough. The work of seeking and building the Kingdom of God has this premise as its core. The enemy’s lie is that there is not enough… that the opportunities and resources are too scarce… that God does not have the power or resources rule his Kingdom and do what he is calling his people to do. In short, the Devil hides behind the notion of scarcity and Jesus proclaims the truth of “enough”. (Thank you to Jamie Kinship for the paring of the terms “scarcity” vs. “enough”)

It is a rare thing to see two almost identical miracles performed back to back in the bible. I think the Lord must be seeking to drive home a point when this happens! On two occasions, almost back to back in the narrative, Jesus feeds thousands of people with a handful of fish and bread. This is a beautiful picture of this principle: With Christ, in the Kingdom of God - there is enough … enough to go around… enough to nourish… enough to SATISFY. Each time, the outcome is the same with the loaves and fishes: “And they all ate and were satisfied.” (Matt 14:20, 15:37) No one left hungry that day… they were fed by the Lord. No one was disappointed in what they got… they were satisfied. Think of this word for a moment: Satisfied. What a blessing it is to be satisfied… to be full.

One time, the second time, there was extra food left over that they gathered… this means more than enough. This “more than enough” food was not extraneous though… it was not excessive or unintentional. The truth is, the Lord knew they would need some food for their journey on a boat afterward and these “left overs” would be their rations. The funny thing is, the disciples forget “their lunches” that Jesus “packed” on the other side of the sea and don’t even realize it until they are on the other side! (cf. Matt 16:5-12) When the disciples freak out, Jesus reminds them of the two miracles he just performed, essentially he reminds them, “hey guys, don’t freak out. In my Kingdom, there is enough… I have got your back.’

Jesus does this same sort of thing in his very first miracle at the wedding of Cana when he turns water into wine. (John 2:1-11) When the wedding feast is struck by apparent scarcity and need, Jesus is approached and responds by ensuring there is enough! In all of these instances, by all worldly accounts, there is no way to make these “equations” work. These are not instances that really “make sense”. The “ENOUGH” of the Kingdom will never make sense when plugged into “worldly” equations… it simply will not work. Jesus is asking us ti walk in faith with him and to begin to function with a Kingdom of God mindset that says there is enough to do what God is calling us to do. This way we are not trapped seeing other humans as competition for the resources around us; or our God-given-vision for ministry is not stifled by fear of resources. My friend Joe says to me all the time, “God’s will, God’s bill. He has got this!”

Today when the lie of scarcity creeps in and drives you to despair or fear… remember that in Christ there is enough. When you are tempted to harbor bitterness or anger towards someone else because they “won” or received something good and now you think that means there is none left for you… remember, there is enough. When the Lord calls you to action, but you cannot clearly see how he will provide for it just yet, step out in faith and remember there is enough. When the enemy tells you that you are no good, have no hope, and have no future - basically when the Devil tells you, “you are not enough”… Turn and ask Jesus and trust him when he tells you that in HIM - YOU ARE ENOUGH. This is the Kingdom of God, the place where we are satisfied by Christ… where Christ is enough! Love you guys. - JDP