Readings

2 Samuel 11:1-15

Psalm 14

Ephesians 3:14-21

John 6:1-21

Devotion

Peace be with you!

July has been a difficult month; I am looking forward to putting it behind me. I am physically exhausted, psychosocially challenged (and yet renewed), and spiritually hanging on to hope. I feel as though life has taken everything out of me, and I have nothing to offer God. In the past month, I have endured the disintegration of a very important relationship.  This has caused me to lean hard on God.  I feel as though I only have twenty-four hours in a day where I need to grieve my relational loss, eat three meals, feed the pups twice, take the pups out a dozen or so times, pay bills, pray, train the youngest pup, tend to life matters, keep in touch with friends and family, keep track of all the changes in my life, go to speech therapy, work out, continue to train for a fourteen mile bike ride in October, plan upcoming trips, enjoy the pups, and somehow keep my sanity. I am exhausted in every way possible. I have an hour until I need to send this off to my editor, so I can get it back to post it – sooner than later.

Like the disciples in the gospel reading, I feel like I have an insignificant amount of food to offer the hungry crowd. The disciples have five barley loaves and two fish and little energy; I have an hour and little energy; and the crowd continues to grow as more people are hungry to hear God’s good Word. The disciples and I (and I imagine you do too some days) beg Jesus to send the growing crowd elsewhere – at least until we get ourselves together. We just have nothing of significance to offer; we hardly have enough to feed ourselves at the moment.

Yet Jesus takes what little that we have and amplifies to the nth degree. Jesus takes the five barley loaves and two fish and feeds the whole crowd; plus, there are still leftovers for the coming days! The disciples give Jesus the little that they have, and he gets them a net return that is out of this world.

Somehow I pray these words reach at least one person who can relate. One person who will see that even though life seems to be taking all that we have and is leaving us with nothing, God has a plan to use that milli-[whatever “it” is] and amplifies it to the nth degree. Nothing else matters. There is hope in God that the exhaustion will pass and renewal is coming. For Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:26-27,  “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” (NRSV) God has uses the weak to fulfill his plan.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for amplifying what little that we have to the nth degree. Help us to rest in the hope in knowing that even when we feel like we have nothing to give back you have a plan to use us for your good. Continue to renew us as we meet life’s challenges.  Thank you for giving us hope. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below.  Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. When have you felt exhausted?

2. How has God amplified your gifts to the nth degree? How did it surprise you?

3. Where has God renewed you?