By Dr Edward Tamale-Sali
“And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto Him, ‘send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place’.
“But He said unto them, ‘Give ye them to eat.’ And they said, ‘We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.’
“For they were about five thousand men. And He said to His disciples, ‘Make them sit down by fifties in a company’.
“And they did so, and made them all sit down. Then He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.
“And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets” (Luke 9:10-18).
In this edition, we expound on the examples from the scriptures to elevate your faith.
These are significant because they help you understand how to depend on Jesus for all your needs, be it marriage, education, house purchase, land acquisition or health.
Jesus is the source of every need, as emphasized in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all the things shall be added unto you.”
We have covered the story of Jesus feeding multitudes before, but in this edition, we are tackling it from a different angle.
Numbers
It was a tradition in those times not to count women and children.
Jesus must have told His disciples to count the people and the number, without women and children, was 5,000 men.
It is important that while one is planning a party, they consider the number of people invited.
Knowing the number of people and planning accordingly will save you from shame and embarrassment.
Remember the wedding at Cana (John 2: 1-10), the host invited many people and they ran out of wine.
Thankfully, they consulted Jesus and He changed water into wine. He never turned down their request or blamed them, as we humans do.
5,000 people & more
Bible scholars estimate the crowd to have exceeded 20,000 people.
The disciples requested Jesus to send these people away, as it was getting late. He responded: “Give them something to eat.”
They said they had only two fish and five loaves of bread. Ideally, one would think it is madness to feed all those people on only five loaves.
The type of bread those days was small like the Arabic type, which could not even feed five people.
Regardless of what was going on in the disciples’ minds, they obeyed every Word of the Lord. Many of them knew He was God and able to do anything.
Jesus ordered them to organize the people in groups of 50s. He multiplied the bread and fish and every one ate to their fill.
The leftover food
Jesus never wasted resources. This is a lesson to all of us to never waste what God has given us.
We should remember the needy and be able to share God’s goodness with them.
When everyone had eaten, there were 12 baskets of left overs and it was given to them to take home.
I have attended many big parties, but I never heard or seen the host give us take-home packets of food for those who did not come to the party.
Jesus remembered those that were not present. Hallelujah !
Personal testimony
I always like to give a testimony to emphasise to you that we have not followed simple religion or a myth.
God is true and real
In 2017, my clinic premises in Lusaka, Zambia were getting very small and we wanted a place for expansion.
The landlord of this three- bedroom bangalow had refused to sell to me and we were stuck. I did not know what else to do; I had to pray to God.
One time as I was praying, I received a message from his (landlord’s) gardener that he was selling the property.
To cut the long story short, we purchased the house which fits on about half an acre.
This was a miracle to us. We continued praying for expansion (we made a Jericho walk around it seven times while praying).
About three months later, a certain white man consulted me with his wife.
They had been married for five years and had had eight failed IVF procedures in Europe.
This man could afford treatment in most top hospitals in Europe, but he came to me.
He told me later that he doubted they were going to be successful because our premises looked miserable (very old house).
But after the procedure, I prayed for them for a miracle and indeed it happened. His wife got pregnant and they had a baby girl.
To date, it is unbelievable to them, but I know the power of God; so, I gave glory to Him.
When this couple returned with their miracle baby, they brought gifts for us.
Fortunately, the husband reminded me about our plans to expand our clinic, which had not progressed due to lack of resources.
He offered to build for us and we would pay later. As of today, the building has been completed and we have received an entry permit from the local authorities to start using it. This is God in action. Hallelujah!
Conclusion
As a child of God, continue to trust Him. And most importantly read His Word daily.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. It does not matter how many Church attendances, how many preachers you listen to; if you do not personally hear from God, through His Word, there are things you will miss.
Stay blessed.
