A Different Kind of Grace

There is one tradition or habit that most Christian families do not miss. I'm talking about saying grace at meal time. I love it when families take the time in a busy restaraunt to pause and give thanks to God. Many times I'm the one that leads out in this prayer and it can feel routine. In fact, I must admit I will occasionally throw in a funny request just to see if my kids are paying attention to what I am actually praying. In Luke 9:14-17, Jesus' disciples experienced a radically different kind of grace at meal time. I can't even imagine the feelings the disciples went through when Jesus gave the instructions for them to seat everyone in groups of 50. There were 5000 men assembled in this crowd and the disciples knew precisely how much food they had collected. It would be like the deacons in our church preparing the communion for 100 people and we suddenly had 5000 show up to take communion, but then the pastor just told the deacons to not worry about it we had enough cups and bread to go around to everyone. Jesus did something that you and I do everyday. He took the food and looked up to heaven and blessed it. Sometimes what seems routine, can become a life changing event for us. This was no ordinary blessing, because as the disciples began passing out the five loaves and two fish they supernaturally had more than enough to feed the huge crowd. Many times we don't believe we have enough to make it through the day. We don't have enough strength, enough patience, enough money, enough time, enough discipline, enough wisdom. In those times we need to remember that Jesus can meet us at our point of need. He alone is more than enough to meet our needs. Take time to think about the disciples looking in those baskets and as they passed out the food, the supply of food never lowered. They would finish each group of 50 people and as they were walking to the next group of 50, they were shaking their heads in amazement as to how much food still remained in their basket. Jesus taught them a very practical lesson that day: Our God can supply all our needs. What needs do you have today? Spend time in prayer today asking God's blessing upon your day, giving Him thanks for what He has blessed you with, and request Him to meet your needs today. Throughout the day be looking for the way in which God provides abudantly for you: look for those baskets of leftovers!