John chapter 6 verse 12 graphically illustrates two important truths about God: He is both lavish AND frugal. He is both abundant with His grace AND meticulous with His care. Let me explain.
My wife and I are currently remodeling a home. And our contractor is continually asking us if we want this fixture, that color, this window, that door, this tile, or that trim. Frankly, it’s wearing us out. But we have to answer each of his questions with one of our own: “Can we afford it?” We only have so much money.
You know what I mean. Every resource we have as human beings is finite. We have a limited amount of time, talent, and treasure. And since this is our frame of reference, we tend to imagine God as though He’s in the same boat. And even if our theology is better than that, all of us experience times when we hesitate to bring our needs to Him because we feel like we may be pushing the limit of what He can afford. But God doesn’t have to stretch His supply or budget His benevolence.
The end of verse 11 and the first part of 12 tell us that Jesus didn’t stop multiplying the loaves and fish until everyone in the crowd had eaten all they WANTED and until they were FULL. He didn’t cheap out. He doesn’t have to. He’s the maker and master of all things. And when we come to Him with our needs, our requests are NOT evaluated against a limited supply. His gifts of every sort – spiritual, physical, and material – are abundant.
Now, don’t misunderstand. This verse is not licensing our GLUTTONY. It’s showcasing God’s SUFFICIENCY. But this is also juxtaposed against His ECONOMY which is illustrated when He commands the Disciples to gather up all the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.
And there’s clearly a lesson here about our need to exercise better care in how we manage what God gives us. But I think there’s even more.
Many of us know what it’s like to mourn the ways we have squandered the goodness of God in our pasts. And we imagine that those lost expressions of His love are irretrievable. But John 6:12 reveals a Savior who is concerned about discarded fragments. We have a God whose amazing grace is so powerful He can insure that nothing of His intentions for us are ultimately forsaken.
As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Great Divorce, “Heaven, once attained, will work backwards…The good man's past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven…”
Dear one, today, bring your needs to our all-sufficient God, AND trust Him to carefully gather up all the pieces of your life you thought were lost.