What Is Enough?

What is enough?

This week’s Gospel (John 6:1-21) focuses on the well-loved and oft-told story about the miracle of the loaves and fishes. As our staff dwelt in this passage at our weekly meeting, we wondered about this “enough-ness.” Our American paradigm tends to fixate on our ability to control everything we can possibly control all on our own, without expectation or assumption of God’s grace, God’s plans, God’s love.

In this Gospel story, Jesus asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” Philip eyed up the crowd (we know it was estimated to be about 5,000) and did some quick math in his head and posited that even six months' wages wouldn’t be enough to buy food! There’s that word again, enough.

And Jesus did the unthinkable. A young boy offered up five loaves and two fish. And Jesus blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the people. And all were fed. All—complete with leftovers.

Why do we stop limiting what God can do? Why do we keep thinking that we can even imagine what God can do, above and beyond what we think we can do on our own?

As people of faith, as people who follow the way of Jesus, we have the opportunity to question this culture of the need to be in control. We get to say, God can do so much more than we can imagine—and believe it! Live as though we know it is true.

So, the next time you say to someone, “I don’t have enough” or “I am not enough," re- wonder that assessment and say instead, “I can give what I have” and let God take all of those morsels, all of the leftover bread crumbs, and make it something new. Something glorious. Something miraculous. And more than enough.