Sometimes we measure the worth of our lives by the legacy we think we’d leave behind. If we are artists, we wonder if there is a painting or a sculpture that will live on long after we are gone. If we are writers, we wonder if we could ever write a book that will influence many people and will carry our name through centuries to come. If we are parents, we wonder if we’d be able to raise children who will carry our names and who will make the world a far better place in the future.
But what if we do not have children? What if we failed to write something that people would want to read? What if there is no work of art that will immortalize our names? Does it mean we are no longer living meaningful lives? Does it mean that all our dreams and all our efforts will be in vain?
Many times, we fail to see the true worth of our lives because we fail to look at it from where God is looking. With God, we need not worry that our labor would be in vain. With God, our good intentions carry a far greater weight than accomplishments done without faithfulness and love.
God takes the smallest of our gifts and blesses them. We may not always see how, but with God, the grace bestowed upon them works in such a way as to affect eternity itself. He uses everything we wholeheartedly offer to Him, and from our humblest gifts, He makes the greatest miracles.
Five Loaves and Two Fishes
Five loaves and two fishes
These are all I have
And I didn’t think they’d matter much
When there are thousands to be fed.
Five loaves and two fishes
And I was ashamed to ask
If somehow they could help
To feed those hungry men
But You took them in Your hands
And you blessed them
And offered them
To heaven.
And everyone ate ’til everyone’s full
And everyone believed
That you loved them
Cause you fed them.
And all these out of my small gift
The ones I thought didn’t matter
With five loaves and two fishes
You satisfied the hunger of men.
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these amongst so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in that place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sitting down; likewise also of the fish as much as they desired. When they were filled, he said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces which are left over, that nothing be lost.” So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. – John 6, WEBBE
The thing about hope is that it’s a positive force that shines the most when it’s dark. When everything’s going well, we hardly notice it’s there. But when things go against us, when our dreams fade and when we see no immediate reprieve from our troubles, that’s when hope does its best work for us.
"Where Hope Can Be Found"