“Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’ Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.” John 6:8-11
In making offerings for God’s Kingdom, do we ever become disappointed when He does not seem to respond with blessings according to our timing and expectations? In the event of the boy who offered up 5 loaves & 2 fishes, it is easy to see the lesson of sacrifice based on Christ’s call. But a subtle, yet important principle to realizing God’s power demonstration is played out in the process of testing and preparation.
After the boy offered over his meal, Christ did not respond immediately with any multiplication. Instead, He took the time to ask his disciples to accomplish the daunting task of organizing 20,000 or so people for large scale food distribution – when there is no food. It may have taken at least several hours to accomplish this task with such a large crowd mired in confusion and desperation. What must the boy be thinking at this time? Could he be regretting the offering? Maybe he could have saved at least himself if he kept the food.
God’s way of blessing the offering of our companies and careers often follows a similar pattern. Our offerings of faith only kick starts the miracle process. But to fully realize the blessings of God’s power, we must persevere through a period of testing and preparation. It is certainly conceivable that the boy could have taken the food back and the story would have ended very differently. But he didn’t. He persevered and realized the power demonstration of Christ’s Kingdom economy.
Let’s intercede this week for the many “ark builders” who have offered up their companies and careers for Christ’s End-Time Kingdom mandate. Like Dr. Hsin-Chia of Twintech, many are going through a period of testing and preparation for a power demonstration of the Kingdom economy. Let’s lift them up in prayer that they will persevere like the boy of offering.
For Dr. Hsin-Chia Chou’s story of Kingdom offering and last week’s intercession, please click here.
