William Barclay said, “Jesus needs what we can bring him. It may not be much but he needs it. It may well be that the world is denied miracle after miracle and triumph after triumph because we will not bring to Jesus what we have and what we are. If we would lay ourselves on the altar of his service, there is no saying what he could do with us and through us. We may be sorry and embarrassed that we have not more to bring – and rightly so; but that is no reason for failing to bring what we have. Little is always much in the hands of Christ.”

In Mark 6:39-44, Jesus jumped in to help people but he didn’t do it alone. That passage reads, 39 Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred. 41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. 42 They all ate as much as they wanted, 43 and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. 44 A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed.

Jesus was able to help divide the food and create enough for everyone to share but the disciples also had very important roles. He partnered with the disciples to group the people and also to track down what existed out there to help multiply. He also leaned on the disciples to help distribute the food after it was multiplied.

To me, this illustrates that Jesus really wants us to identify the resources God has already given us and others and put them to work. While we may not be Jesus, the center of attention that is doing the transformation we can’t allow the importance of our role to be lost.

What we have to offer may not seem adequate to our eyes but it may be the missing piece of a bigger puzzle God is solving. We must trust in Him and not allow ourselves to downplay or disregard our contributions simply because we don’t understand the bigger picture of God at work. He may call us to an important upfront role or we may be called to a lesser role but all roles are important in His mission and we can’t forget that. 

I think so often I feel like what I am doing from a ministry standpoint is trivial. In some areas, I feel like I am working hard and not making or seeing an impact. The truth is though we can’t allow that to hold us back. God sees the bigger picture and we need to do our best to honor Him and follow Him. We may never even see how our efforts fit into His plan but if we are faithful and we are following God’s will for our life we can be certain that somehow and somewhere an impact is being made! It isn’t my job to worry about that, it is my job to do what God calls me to do and to be one of His disciples just like in the story that are playing key roles in what He is up to.