Fishes & Loaves
John 6:1-15
💥 THE BRIEFING
The feeding of the 5,000 is my favorite miracle recorded in the Bible. I don’t really know why, but even stacked up there with raising the dead, and walking on water this one really sticks out to me.
Maybe because it’s recorded in all 4 gospels?
Maybe because I know that the Kia Center in Orlando holds 20,000 people, and when John writes about the 5,000 he’s likely only counting men, so many scholars estimate it at 15,000 people. I can picture that.
“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”
You know, one of my biggest struggles in my faith is prayer.
It really is, I get caught up in my own head, trying to make these lofty prayers, or I plan to say my prayers before bed and then fall asleep or I throw out a quick one and then feel guilty for not giving God more of my attention.
Because of that, I’m doing what I always do and look for an answer in a book. So I just finished reading Tim Keller’s Prayer and Tyler Staton’s Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, and both authors keep circling back to this same idea, that was perfect timing, we just need to bring what we have to Jesus, even when it’s laughably insufficient.
And my prayers are laughably insufficient.
But what can this text teach us parents?
The Apostle John wants us to connect this feeding with Israel’s wilderness wanderings, when God provided manna from heaven for people who were grumbling and complaining.
The Israelites in the wilderness didn’t know where their next meal was coming from. They were following a God they couldn’t see to a promised land they’d never been to, with nothing but daily bread that expired if they tried to hoard it.
Fatherhood is wilderness living. Every day you wake up not knowing if you’ll have enough patience, wisdom, energy, or answers for what your kids will throw at you. Let alone what the world is going to throw at you. You can’t stockpile solutions. Yesterday’s victories don’t guarantee today’s success.
But here’s what the boy with the lunch teaches us: you start with what you have.
🎙️ THE CORNER TALK
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they for so many people?” - John 6:9
Have you heard the song, Fishes & Loaves by Josiah Queen? My boys love it, and it's a regular request when we’re heading somewhere. Here are a few lyrics is case you dont have the time to listen this morn:
Put the food in His hands
I held back my questioning thoughts
But something told me that that preacher could see
The war between my head and heartWhen He said, “Oh my child let go
I know You’re uneasy, but I’m in control
I don’t need that much for Me to show
I’ll make the most of your fishes and loaves”
Maybe I’m alone in this, but my heart sure isn’t easy about a lot of things. Money, career, relationships, the endless onslaught of terrible heart breaking news.
That’s the father’s dilemma right there.
Your kid is struggling with something, and you have no idea what to do. So you say its going to be alright.
Your teenager is asking questions about faith that you’re still figuring out yourself. You have some Sunday School quality answers and thats it.
Your marriage is strained because parenting is harder than anyone told you it would be, you have good intentions and a heart full of love.
What good is all this among such deep waters?
What good is all of this among such complicated dynamics?
This isn’t about getting everything you want, or figuring it all out on this side of Heaven. It’s about learning to trust the One who provides what you need.
The prosperity gospel wants to make this story about God giving you more than you can imagine if you just have enough faith. But that’s missing the point entirely.
🥊 THE FIGHT PLAN
This week: Practice the discipline of honest offering.
Every morning, before you check your phone, ask yourself: “What do I have to bring to Jesus today?”
Not what you wish you had. Not what other dads seem to have. What do you actually have right now?
Maybe it’s:
Ten minutes of patience before you lose it
One honest conversation with your wife
A willingness to admit you don’t know what you’re doing
The courage to apologize to your kid for yesterday’s failure
A prayer that feels more like a Costco list than devotion
Bring it. All of it.
Then say out loud: “Jesus, this is what I have. I know it’s not enough, but it’s yours.”
This counters the masculine lie that we have to figure it all out before we can be useful to God or our families. Sometimes the most powerful thing a father can do is show up empty-handed but open-hearted.
Don’t try to multiply the loaves yourself. That’s His job. Your job is to bring what you have and trust Him with what you don’t.
🤝 THE HUDDLE
The boy in this story didn’t know he was about to participate in a miracle. He just knew Jesus was asking for lunch contributions and he had a lunch.
Your kids don’t need you to be the dad who has it all figured out. They need you to be the dad who knows where to go when you don’t have enough, and show them.
You know I finally saw in my study that the crowd wanted to make Jesus king because they thought He would give them everything they wanted. But Jesus withdrew because He knew that’s not what they needed.
The miracle isn’t that you’ll always have enough. The miracle is that when you don’t, you know where to go.
Forward this to a dad who’s trying to solve problems that are bigger than his resources.
In your corner,
Chance