Offer What You Have

Once in Armenia, I spoke with a craftsman who made duduks, carefully carving them from apricot wood. I asked him how a simple piece of wood could produce such deep and beautiful music. He smiled and said, “By itself, it is only wood. But when a master breathes into it, it becomes music.”

The same is true in the spiritual life. What seems small in our hands can become something beautiful and powerful in the hands of the Master. This is exactly what we see in the Gospel.

One day, Lord Jesus spent many hours teaching a large crowd (Mark 6:34–44). People had come from many places to hear Him, and they stayed with Him all day. By evening, the people were hungry, and the disciples became worried because they did not know how to feed so many.

Lord Jesus said to them, “You give them something to eat.” To the disciples, this sounded impossible. They began to explain the problem: there were too many people, the hour was late, and the food was too little. They measured the challenge only by their own strength.

We often do the same. When we face a difficult situation, we look at our weaknesses and our limits and quickly conclude that it cannot be done.

But Lord Jesus shifts their attention. He does not ask first what they do not have. He asks what is already in their hands. The answer seems almost embarrassing: five loaves and two fish. Compared with the size of the crowd, it seemed like almost nothing. Yet that small offering was all that Lord Jesus needed.

He took the loaves and fish, blessed them, and gave them back to the disciples. Then, as they shared them, the miracle unfolded. The food multiplied. The people were fed. Everyone was satisfied. And at the end, there was more left over than what they had at the beginning.

What are the five loaves and two fish in your life? What have you been calling too small? Place it in the hands of Christ. Because when it remains in your hands alone, it stays small. But when it is offered to Him, it becomes the beginning of a miracle.