Jentezen Franklin - The Blessing Is In The Breaking
Open your Bibles with me to the Book of Mark 6. Mark 6. So I want to talk to you for a few moments about this story, because it's interesting how that they go from one miracle to a storm. They go directly from Jesus feeding the 5.000, right into the greatest test and storm that they would ever face. 5.000 men gathered, women, and children besides, in a desert place, in desperate need of the Word of God. As a matter of fact, Deuteronomy said: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word".
So they didn't have food, they had the Word of God. Jesus was teaching. Listen to this, and these people had rather have had the Word than bread. If they had to choose, they said, "I'll take the Word over to bread to eat". Shows a tremendous hunger for the Word of God. If you've got a hunger for the Word of God, God will always supply your needs. And the Bible said that when the disciples told them how they weak they were, how hungry they were, the people hadn't eaten, and they were concerned.
Jesus said: "They need not depart". They don't have to leave Me. They came for the Word, but I can give them Word and bread. And Jesus said to them, "What do you have"? Point number one, the miracle always begins with what you have. When you recognize what you have, then God can multiply it. It's not in what you don't have, you have to recognize, notice the pattern that Jesus is showing us. He's saying, "The first key to receiving My provision for your life, no matter what kind of storm or season you're going through or facing, is recognize what you have". Because when you recognize what you have, then God can multiply it.
And the Bible said that it's ironic that they did not count the women and the children. I think it's very ironic, because the one that they didn't count was the one that God used to bring the miracle. No, they counted 5.000 men, and in their mind, they said, "The women and the children don't count". But notice something about your God. God uses people that other people don't count. God uses people that other people discount. God uses people that other people say are unimportant, so unimportant, they don't even count. But that's the very one, the little lad that had five loaves and two fish, he was the one that nobody counted, that everybody discounted. He's just a kid with five slices of bread and two fish, but the one that people didn't count was the one that God counted.
I want to tell you, that's the truth about our God. He counts people that other people discount. People may look at you as unimportant, may write you off as unimportant, but God says, "I count people that other people don't count". What do you have? "When you recognize what you have, I can multiply it. And always remember that I count people that other people don't see anything worth counting in". That's the kind of God we serve. Jesus then gives a strange command, when they bring the boy's food. Jesus said to them, "Separate into groups of 50".
Now, this is going to take awhile. You've got 5.000 men, plus women, plus children, a minimum of 15, 20.000 people. You got to count out 50 people, separate 'em, put 'em over here, in a small group, and then do another in a small group, and then another, and then another, and then another. Do you know how long that would take? The people are already fainting. The people are already hungry. The people haven't eaten all day, in the sun, and the sun is setting, and why in the world would you take the time to separate them into groups of 50? Because sometimes, the best miracles take time. Sometimes, we need to understand that God's best miracles are not driven by need or necessity or hunger. That when God is doing something big in your life, you can't rush what God is doing.
That's why the Bible said: "You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you might obtain the promise". The Bible said in James, you've heard of Job's patience, and one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience, and what I've learned, and what you're going to learn is God's best miracles take time. Sometimes, you have got to have order and structure. He said, "Divide them up into 50. Give Me some order out of this mass crowd. Give Me some structure", because it takes order and structure to receive the magnitude of the blessing that God wants to give you.
Many times, we're saying, "God, bless me with more", and we're mishandling what we have. God doesn't give you more according to what you ask for, He gives you more according to what you can manage. And if you can't manage what you've got right now, why would God give you more to squander? And He said, "I want you to have a structure that can maintain the magnitude of the blessing that I want to pour into your life". And the Bible said that they brought Jesus the bread, they gave Him what they had, and Jesus took it, the Bible said, and He blessed it. He's blessing what is not enough. He's blessing five loaves of bread, and two fish.
It's obviously not enough to feed 5.000 men, plus the women, plus the children. It's not enough, but He's giving thanks for what is not enough. When you learn to be grateful, even when what you have is not enough, then God can begin to multiply not enough into more than enough. Until you can be thankful for something that is not enough, you cannot be multiplied into more than enough. You'll never see the multiplication as long as you're ungrateful, but when you become thankful for what He has given you, as little as it is, little is much when God is in it. I wish somebody would just, right now, say, "Lord, I'm thankful. I don't have everything that I wish I had, but I'm thankful for what I've got". That's when the miracle starts.
And the Bible said that when He took it, and He blessed it, gave thanks for it, blessed it, that He had the correct inventory. Two fish, five loaves. Nothing had multiplied. Nothing had increased. It wasn't until he did something, the Bible said He then took the bread, after He blessed it. He broke it. And when He broke it, and started handing it to the disciples to distribute, as He broke it, He began to lose count. The blessing is in the breaking. It wasn't until it was broken, that it began to multiply. That which refuses to be broken, refuses to be blessed. It is in the breakings of life that produces the blessings of life.
Some of the most blessed people that you will ever meet, have gone through something that broke them before they got to the blessing. Because it's the blessing is hidden in the broken. The more that He broke it, the more it multiplied. The more He broke it, that's when it would multiply. He would break it, and break it, and break it, and it would multiply. Every time He broke it, it multiplied in His hands. Now, that's a spiritual law, that if God allows you to go through breaking, it is not to destroy you. It is to bless you, because the breaking is what brings the blessing.
Now, I want to ask you a question: have you thanked the Lord for every time He broke you? Every time He snapped you? Every time He put you through a season of brokenness? He wasn't killing you. He was blessing you, every time He was breaking you. Every time you were rejected. Every time you were alienated. Every time you were disappointed. Every time you were cursed. Every time you were told no. Every time your heart was broken. Broken homes, broken hearts, broken families, broken hopes. The greatest blessings come out of the hardest breakings, and that's why we don't get discouraged.
We understand, if God's allowing me to go through a plan that I never dreamed would happen, I thought it would be a straight shot to success and the goodness of God, but instead, I'm walking through a season of brokenness, like I never dreamed I would be. Good, that's a sign God is on your case, and if He's blessing you, it's because He's... do you hear me? If He's breaking you, it's because He's going to bless you. Don't give me a little golf clap. Clap your hands like you believe. He knows how to bless us out of the breaking. Didn't come until it got broken. Didn't multiply, didn't increase until it got broken. The very thing you're cursing is the very thing God's going to use to multiply and bless your life. He fed the multitude through the breaking process.
I've never heard a preacher preach that had a message that touched my heart that hadn't been through the breaking process. You cannot feed other people the Bread of Life without going through brokenness, again, and again, and again. And just when you think everything's good, God says, "I really need to use you again. And in order for me to use you again, to make that Word that I'm gonna give you, have effect, I gotta get you in another time of brokenness". So, when you say, "God, use me"! You think that means he's gonna give you a suit and a microphone, and let you... He's gonna break you. You have no idea what ministry costs. It's a continual, "What, you really have", it's a continual breaking. It never stops. Jesus does not feed the multitude directly. He breaks it, and gives it to His disciples, His friends, and He says, "You go feed 'em".
Notice that the blessing passes through your hands, not from your hands. Many of you have been blessed. There's some blessed people under the sound of my voice, but I've come to remind you that the blessings that you're experiencing do not come from your hands, they come from Jesus' hands, they come through your hands. And don't ever get it mixed up. Be careful to give God the praise and the glory, because any blessings that you are participating in is not your doing, it came from the hand of Jesus, and is flowing through your hand. You need to learn to eat God's blessing, even if He brings it through somebody else's hand. He'll even feed you and bless you sometimes through people who don't even like you, through the enemy's hands. Prepare a table before you in the presence of your, they'll say things like this, "I don't know why I'm doing this". Hallelujah.
Now, here's a big point about this little lesson. God is a good Chef, and He's very good at math. He has a book in the Bible called Numbers. And, when He cooked for the children of Israel, and He did, He spread a table in the wilderness, the Bible said, for 40 years, they had nothing to eat except what God personally provided for them from the bakeries of Heaven. Every morning, when they got up, there was something called manna that God had cooked up. And it was so precise God is such a good chef, you know, a good chef you can just tell 'em how many people are comin' and they know how much stuff they're gonna need. And God is not a wasteful god.
So, when he would provide food for the children of Israel in the wilderness, he would give them just enough to eat that day. No leftovers. None. Matter of fact, if they didn't eat all their meal for that day, they couldn't store it up for the next day. If they did, the Bible said, it had worms in it, because God was teachin' 'em you're gonna have to depend on Him every day of your life. So, here's my point: When God cooks, He knows how many people he's cooking for. And He knew, if He wanted to, He could've just supplied exactly enough meal for the 5.000 men, and He knew how many women, He knew how many children, and it would've been enough to feed everybody, and stopped. He knew the exact number, but He purposely designed it so that there would be leftovers.
Jesus could have been precise, He could've stopped on the last person. In His mind, He knew when He got to the last person who needed to be served a meal, and He could've stopped, but He kept on breaking off more than was needed. He chose to give them overflow. Don't you ever let people tell you that God just wants to give you enough. God doesn't just want to give you enough. That sounds real religious, when people say that. But the truth is, God does not, His name is El Shaddai, not El Cheapo. El Shaddai means in Hebrew more than enough. A God whose name is more than enough will never stop at enough.
David said, "My cup runneth over". He is a God of overflow. He doesn't just want to give you enough. He wants to give you more than enough. God says, "I'm not blind. I'm just a God of overflow, and I want you to understand that My blessing is greater than your capacity to contain it. My blessing is not limited to what your little glass says you can hold. But when I pour out my blessing, I'll pour out a blessing you won't have room enough to receive. It'll be pressed down, shaken together, running over. Shall men give unto your bosom".
I know what I'm preaching is the truth, and I don't know what people have taught you, but don't you dare believe that God just wants you to have enough. He's the God of more than enough. He's the God of overflow, and He's not limited to the size of your container. Hallelujah. It'll flow over to your children. It'll flow over to your children's children. It'll flow over to the poor and the needy. It'll flow over to people who are going through a hard time. It'll come through your hand, not from your hand, because He's a God of abundance. Somebody give Him a great shout of praise. I believe it. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
This is so important, what I'm about to share with you. And the Bible said when they immediately, after gathering those fragments and putting them in 12 baskets, Jesus constrained them, right after a miracle, to get in the boat, without Him, and go to the other side. Constrain means I'm ordering you, I'm giving you divine instructions. Do what I'm telling you to do. And they didn't know it, but Jesus knew, He was sending them right into the path of the storm.
It's so important to understand that they were following divine instructions, when they encountered the storm. The enemy will tell you when you go through a storm, "This is the judgment of God". The enemy will tell you when you go through the storm and through the flood that God's getting you back for your past, but I'm here to tell you the truth of God's Word. Jesus constrained them. Didn't give them a choice. Said, "If you're My disciple, under My authority, you obey My voice. Get in that boat, and I'm God". He knew the storm was coming, and He put 'em right in the path.
I'm telling you today, that if you're going through a storm, you're in that storm by divine instructions. And God does not intend for you to go down, He intends for you to receive something in the storm. There was a lot of people. The multitude were burping on blessings. They had just eaten fish and chips, and they were happy, and the disciples wanted to stay there. But Jesus was about to show 12 of them what they would never see on the shore. Some of you are about to see things in the storm that other people burping on the blessings, on the land, never get to see. When God allows you to go through a storm, it is not to destroy you. It's to show you who He is on another dimension and level, that you've never seen Him move before. Everybody, give God a praise for just a moment. Hallelujah.
See? When Jesus came walking on the water, the Wave Walker, walked out to the boat, and He got on the boat. He was not upset at them, because they were in a storm. He said, "I'm disappointed you did not consider the miracle of the fish and the loaves". He's saying, "Why didn't you, I had you loaded down with 12 baskets, so while you were fighting the storm, you would be reminded God is faithful. God can do it, God can make a way". And I'm saying to every one of you, you need to, what is that on your coat? It's bread crumbs from the last miracle that you just came from, and you're freaking out 'cause you got a bad doctor's report. Or you're freaking out because you've got a financial crisis.
Well, let me give you a news flash. You didn't have nothing when God found you. He gave you the job, He gave you the opportunity, and if you go back down to nothing, if you've got God, you can get it all back. Your power is not in where you are, your power is in where you have been. And He did not want them to forget the miracle of the fish and the loaves. The only reason He gave them leftovers was so they would remember where He brought them from. If you're going to survive the storms of life, you have to constantly remember where God brought you from.
And so, today, the leftovers, if you would reach back and get some bread crumbs from the previous miracles of how God opened doors, of how God provided, of how God healed you, the previous crumbs, the crumbs of previous miracles, if you would just reach down in the bag, because you didn't get in the storm without some testimony. And nobody can tell your testimony like you can. But remember where He brought you from, and where He's able to take you to. And don't let what you see defeat you. He has not given you the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And He's saying, "Reach back, and remember what I've done for you. I will not fail you now".
I want you to give God a great praise if you believe I'm preaching the truth. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Stand to your feet at every campus, and give Jesus Christ a great, great praise. I want you to thank Him for what is not enough right now, knowing that He'll multiply into more than enough.
Every head bowed, every eye closed, at every campus. I know there are people going through storms. The very thing you're going through could be the very thing that Jesus comes walking on top of to rescue you. And He knew you would be facing this storm, right now. And He brought you here today to hear this message, to let you know there's a Peace Speaker, a Wave Walker, that's waiting for you to cry out. And if you'll cry out, He'll come and get on your boat. You're not going to go under, you're going over to the other side, because of Jesus. And this is your day.
If you're here today and you would say, "Pastor, I don't know that I'm right with God. And I want to get right with God today, I'm in the storm of my life. Category five. I don't know what in the world I'm going to do". The truth is, most of us, had it been sunshiny days, would've never found Jesus. The truth is, most of the time, if God's allowing a storm, it's so you can encounter Jesus in a life-changing way. This is your day. The blessing is in the breaking. You've been broken, and that's the very thing God'll use to bring the blessing. "Pastor, pray for me. I'm not right with God. I want to get right with God. Pray for me".
If that's you, boldly raise your hand right where you're standing. I want to see it, all over this room. Raise it high, and unashamed. Bless you. Raise it high, and unashamed. Something'll break off of you the moment you say, "Jesus, help me". The Bible said He would've passed them by, but somebody cried out, and He got on their boat. He will pass you by if you don't cry out. This is your cry out. When you throw that hand up, you're saying, "Help me". "Help me". God sees you as of great value, so much so that He hung on a cross for you. Just like you are, not when you get it together. He loves you now. Let's pray this prayer. Everybody, say these words out loud at every campus.
Lord Jesus, I confess with my mouth. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He died on a cross, carried my sins, in His physical body. He bled and died, and rose on the third day. He conquered death. He conquered sin. He conquered demons. He conquered Satan's power. And I am free. I am delivered. I am a child of God. I am an overcomer. The storm will not kill me. The storm is what Jesus is going to use to come to me. And I receive Him, as my Lord and Savior, from this day forward. Jesus is in my boat. I will make it. I can take it. I'm not going under, I'm going over, in Jesus' mighty name.