Mensa Otabil - Place It In The Hands of Jesus
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My message today is very simple, and I’ve titled it «Place It in the Hands of Jesus.» You may ask, «What should we place in the hands of Jesus?» We’ll find out very soon. Place it in the hands of Jesus. What do you do when you are in a difficult place in life? Time is not on your side, and you have very few resources but a huge problem to solve. You look around you, and what you have is inadequate. These days, we are all aware of that. So today, we are going to follow Jesus and learn from Him. We will examine the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. It is the one miracle of Jesus that is mentioned in all four Gospels. Each Gospel account gives a detail that helps us see the bigger picture. Ideally, it would be great to read all four Gospel accounts, but I am not going to be able to do that just for the sake of time. To manage our time well, I will focus on Matthew’s rendering of that account and how the Apostle Matthew saw it, enabled by the Holy Spirit to give it to us. I will also reference Luke’s and John’s accounts throughout my message.
Before I read the passage, it is important to note that the miracles of Jesus Christ carried both a spiritual and a natural truth. At its base, the miracle is a supernatural act, but it is also meant for us to learn God’s principles from it. While we see the supernatural miracle, we are also learning how God works and its application to our natural lives. So let’s read the account from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 14, verses 13 to 21. This will form the base, but as I said, I will be referencing the other Gospels as well.
Matthew chapter 14, verses 13 to 21: When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out, He saw a great multitude, and He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, «This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.» But Jesus said to them, «They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.» And they said to Him, «We have here only five loaves and two fish.» He said, «Bring them here to Me.» Then He commanded the multitude to sit on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. That means that although we normally call it the feeding of the five thousand, if you add their women and children, the number was way beyond five thousand. If you want the other readings, they would be in Luke’s Gospel, chapter 9, verses 13 to 17, and John’s Gospel, chapter 6, verses 4 to 11.
Jesus, as you know, was usually followed by large numbers of people. He was a phenomenal teacher of God’s Word; of course, He is the Word of God Himself. Anytime He taught, people had clarity of the Scriptures that they had never had before. In addition to teaching, Jesus performed miracles in the lives of people, and many were healed. On this particular occasion, Jesus had been teaching for three days, and the Bible states that He had healed the sick. However, this meeting is not taking place in a chapel; it is out there in the field. For these several days, people had been listening to Jesus, the sick were being healed, but the people were growing hungry because they are human beings and need food to eat. There is a challenge presented in this place. Matthew states in verse 15, chapter 14, verse 15: «When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, 'This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away that they may go into the villages and buy themselves bread.'»
So, what was the challenge facing them? First, they had a problem with where they were. The Bible indicates that they were in a deserted place, so they had a location problem. The people had followed Jesus to a deserted area. Many times, we face location problems. For many of us living in a nation like Ghana, there is often a perception of being in a disadvantaged location.
Second, they had a time problem. The disciples said that the hour was already late. Time was against them because the sun was setting. In those days, there was no electricity, so when the light went down, nobody worked. They only had a short time for something to happen because time was against them.
Third, they faced a significant need: a huge multitude of 5,000 men, besides women and children—hungry people. They had received spiritual nourishment and healing, but there was a hunger problem. I’ve realized that no matter how well you help people, if they feel hungry, they tend to overlook all the good that has been done.
So, there’s a space problem, a time problem, and a huge need with limited resources: five loaves of bread and two fish. I like how John’s Gospel renders that. John, chapter 6, verses 8 to 9, says, «One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 'There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many? '» That’s the question they asked: «What is this among so many?» They acknowledged that their resources were inadequate.
Many times, we go through life that way. We look at what we have in our hands; it may not be barley loaves, but it could be a small amount of money, and it might not seem like much. «What is this among so many?» This is the question they asked.
I came to announce to somebody today that God is about to work something in your life, in your business, in the next few months. What you hold in your hand that seems inferior, what appears small, or the place that seems like a disadvantage—God is about to take all this and work a miracle in your life.
As we bounce back from the challenges of this virus, we will face limited resources, time against us, and location disadvantage, but we must ask ourselves how we will use these for our nation. Maybe you are a church that isn’t sure if people will return after this. You may feel you have a small congregation, and you might be wondering how you will survive. But God says He is about to work something in your life. Yes, the location doesn’t favor you, time doesn’t favor you, and resources are limited, yet God is about to work.
The disciples proposed options: «Looking at where we are, the limited time, and what we have, send them away.» This means don’t even try to solve it, Jesus. This is option number one. They thought shutting down was the solution, but there was a second option, and that is the option that Jesus gave: «You give them something to eat.» The disciples looked at each other, saying, «Lord, do You really understand where we are? We are in the desert, and the next village is far away. Even if we had money, we wouldn’t have enough food for these people.»
But Jesus said, «Give them something to eat.» God will give you something to eat. God will intervene in your situation. It doesn’t matter if the location is wrong or the resources are limited, but I hear Jesus speaking into our lives today: «Give them something to eat.»
Now, if you were there, whose option would you prefer? The disciples or Jesus? Some might think the disciples are practical while others would trust Jesus. Where is your faith?
One of the disciples came and said, «Lord, there is a young boy here who hasn’t eaten his lunch; he has five loaves of bread and two fish.» This is a small boy’s meal. They presented it to Jesus, «This is what we have.» Jesus took ownership of the five loaves and two fish.
This is the most important point: what you have may seem small, but you must put it in the hands of Jesus. So how do we give it to Him? We do it through prayer and total surrender. You must allow Him to own it. Once you give it to Him, you should not worry about it. Yes, plan for it, but don’t stress over it, because when you do, you haven’t truly placed it in His hands.
When you put it in Jesus' hands, He becomes the owner, and you must trust Him completely. Somewhere in your life, you must decide to take what you hold and say, «Lord, I place it in Your hands. I trust You with it.» From this moment on, I refuse to be anxious because it is in Your hands.
When Jesus took the loaves and fish, He blessed them, demonstrating that even small resources can be multiplied when dedicated to Him. That small meal transformed from being just five loaves of bread and two fish to being blessed and used to feed thousands.
Jesus took ownership of it because it was given to Him, and He blessed it. The word «blessing» means to celebrate it, to speak well of it, to set it apart, to invest it with greater potential.
He broke it. What you have may seem small, but if you place it in His hands, it can be transformed. Remember, this boy kept his meal while many others had eaten theirs. Look in your hands; there is something that has not been consumed. Trust God with it—your faith must be radical.
Jesus says that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it stands alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. When you put it in His hands, it may seem lost to you but is alive in His hands.
In the boy’s hands, the resources were limited; in Jesus' hands, they were empowered. After blessing it, Jesus would distribute it through the disciples. That’s when the multiplication began. They didn’t end up with just one basket; consuming began, and the miracle unfolded.
Therefore, I want to emphasize this: you must actively use what you have in your hands, commit it to Jesus, and allow it to multiply.
As we look at the account, we must understand that Jesus taught us to segment our problems. When dealing with large groups, break down the problems.
Jesus made the people sit down. When facing a large, unorganized mass, He organized them into groups. This shows us how crucial it is to structure and assign problems properly.
Once everything was organized, Jesus took the resources. Matthew’s account states that He took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke them.
Today, we can trust that what seems small and inadequate in our hands can become sufficient in the hands of Jesus. Thus, we must commit it to Him in prayer, modeling our act of faith in Him as someone who is capable of transforming our situations—even when they seem desperate.
So I want you to do this now; stretch your hands to God, and imagine what you hold in your hands: your bank account, your resources. Pray, «Lord, this is all I have. I place it in Your hands.»
Let’s begin to talk to the Lord, praying in faith, trusting that He will take our little and use it in these challenging times for His glory.
Heavenly Father, You created all things from nothing. You sustained everything by the word of Your power. We take the little we have and place it before You, trusting You to bless it, multiply it, and meet the needs of those around us.
We refuse to let circumstances dictate our faith, and we trust that, before the end of this year, You will cause the little we have put in Your hands to meet our needs and even bless others.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
If you truly trusted God, don’t take your worries back; give it to Him—it’s settled. Trust Him, and He will show Himself in the wilderness of your life. Amen.