Many of us are familiar with the miracle in the gospels, where Jesus fed over 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes.

If you aren’t familiar, let me share a quick synopsis (you can read the full text here). Jesus was ministering to people and decided to take some time alone. But the crowds followed him, so he began ministering to them and healing their sick.

By evening time, the disciples were ready to send everyone away to find food for dinner.

Jesus replies, “They don’t need to go away…You give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16). This stumps the disciples because they know they only have five loaves of bread and two fishes, and there are over 5,000 people!  How can they feed the masses with such few pieces of food?

But they aren’t with just anyone. They are with Jesus.

Jesus tells the people to sit down, blesses the food, and breaks the loaves of bread for the disciples to hand out. In the end, everyone had something to eat. In fact, they had more than a little to eat. Matthew 14:20 tells us that

“Everyone ate and was satisfied.”

Here is the best part: the disciples picked up leftovers when it was all over. There were actual leftovers – 12 baskets to be exact – more than double what they had when they started handing out food.

I know. The math doesn’t make sense in our logical minds. But isn’t that the way of our Savior? He came to earth fully God and fully man, entirely without sin, and yet he gave his life to cover our sins so we could live. It doesn’t make sense.

I’ve decided this is God Math. We can barely scrape together a few things in this life, and he not only provides enough for us to be satisfied, but there are leftovers.

I wonder how often we hold tightly to things or say, like the disciples, “God, I only have…” to do whatever it is we need to do. We may become stingy holding onto what we do have or we begin overthinking it and wonder do we really have enough to do what he is calling us to do. And I am not just referring to money here; there are many ways this manifests itself in our lives.

Maybe we think we don’t have what it takes to parent, learn a new skill, or change a habit. But if we take what God has provided us and offer it up to him, he will use it in ways we can never imagine.

He is the Lord God our Provider (you can read a few things I wrote about that in this book). We do not need to fear our meager offering won’t be enough to accomplish the task. God can use what we have, and often an abundance will come with it, leaving us completely satisfied.

Lord, help us to see with your vision. Give us hearts that are willing to offer what little we have to you, knowing that your math is beyond what we can imagine.