Are you going through a difficult time right now or know someone who is? It seems everywhere I turn lately people are going through one struggle or another: a sick child who just can’t seem to get well, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, divorce, and the list goes on and on. It would be easy to get discouraged if you kept your focus on the problems.
I read John 6:1-15 yesterday. It is the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand plus. I say five thousand plus because verse ten says “and the men sat down, about five thousand of them” implying they only counted the men. There must have been women and children there also because the five loaves and two fish came from a young boy [verse 9]. The miracle of the story is Jesus fed a multitude of people with a lunch large enough for one or two at the most. If Jesus can do that with food then maybe He will do the same with your paycheck. God is not constrained by the laws of nature. He created them and He knows how to step outside of them.
I love how you can read a familiar story in the Word over and over, but the Holy Spirit highlights a different segment of it each time, teaching you something new. Yesterday, the Holy Spirit drew my eyes to verse twelve like I had never read it before: “When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’” Jesus wastes nothing! If you are going through a difficult time, Jesus will not waste it. Jesus doesn’t cause cancer to come upon one of His children, but He will not waste it. Romans 8:28 says “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” All things is all things, even the bad things.
No matter what you or a loved one are facing right now, the Lord will use it. He will work it together for good. He wastes nothing!