Quick Update
I apologize for the lack of articles and devotions in July. Been a crazy month with work, ministry, & coaching. Sometimes the clock runs out on us, and God hasn’t responded to my prayer for 28 hours days. So I’ll soon be back to full capacity on publishing. I will post two articles this week. Catch up soon. Enjoy your summer & now onto ‘Bring What You Got.”
INTRODUCTION
We’ve all had those moments where life demands more than we feel equipped to give. You show up to the meeting, and suddenly you’re in charge. You open the email and realize that a deadline has just become today. You get the call from school, again, and now you’re parenting, counseling, and running damage control before lunch. Sometimes life feels like being handed a paperclip and a rubber band and being asked to build a spaceship.
Let’s be honest, most of us live in a constant tension between what’s needed and what we have. We don’t have enough time. We don’t have enough energy. We don’t have enough help. Many days, we’re not even sure we have enough coffee. And yet, the expectations keep coming. People still need you. The objective still matters. And somewhere in the middle of that pressure, you hear God whisper: You give them something.
That’s the tension of real life. It’s being called to serve, lead, parent, pastor, build, encourage, correct, or carry, but in reality, you feel like you're running on fumes. But what if God never expected you to be the solution? What if He simply asked you to bring what’s in your hands?
We’re conditioned to believe that success starts with sufficiency. “Once I have more money, then I’ll give.” “Once I have more time, then I’ll serve.” “Once I have more experience, then I’ll lead.” But Jesus operates on a different economy. His starting point isn’t abundance, it’s availability. He doesn’t ask for what you don’t have. Jesus asks for what you’re holding right now.
Sometimes that’s a little courage. Sometimes it’s a worn-out skill set. Sometimes it’s a lunch break, a voice memo, a few encouraging words, or a single quiet prayer. It might not feel like much. In fact, it rarely does. But in the hands of Jesus, surrender is always the seed of something supernatural.
Leadership God’s way is never about being the hero; it’s about being the one who trusts the Hero enough to offer what you’ve got. And the good news? You’re not responsible for the miracle. You’re just responsible for showing up and bringing the bread.
You might feel like what you’re carrying is too small, too broken, or too unfinished to be useful. But here’s what you need to know: if Jesus is calling you into it, He already knows what’s in your hands. And He still says, “You give them something.”
Today, we’re going to examine a story that begins with scarcity and concludes with overflow. A story where someone brought what little they had and discovered that in the hands of Jesus, it was more than enough. It's the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels, not because it’s flashy, but because it’s foundational.
Let’s talk about what happens when we stop trying to solve the problem and start trusting the One who can.
Mark 6:30–44 ESV
The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS
VERSES 30-33
This is the first time Mark uses the term "apostles" as the disciples return from their little missionary journey in Mark 6. They are energized and exhausted, having preached repentance, healed the sick, and cast out demons. Their excitement to report to Jesus reflects both the intimacy of discipleship and the accountability that comes with mission.
In the ancient world, mealtime was a sacred moment of rest and fellowship. The fact that they had no time to eat reveals the pace of the crowds and the emotional weight of their ministry. The Sea of Galilee, a large freshwater lake, was often used for transportation. "Solitary place" echoes the wilderness where Jesus had begun his ministry. There are numerous small but significant details in this story.
The crowd’s desperation outweighs distance. The crowds traced boat movements from the shoreline.
VERSES 34-40
“Sheep without a shepherd” echoes Numbers 27 and Ezekiel 34, which were images of spiritual neglect by leaders. In contrast, Jesus embodies the true Shepherd.
The disciples offer a practical, reasonable solution: dismiss the crowd. Food markets in villages closed at sundown, and it was already “late.” A denarius was a day’s wage. “Two hundred denarii” = about eight months of labor. Their reply is laced with sarcasm and disbelief.
The fish were likely small, dried fish used as a salty complement to the bread. The offering comes from a young boy, as mentioned in John 6, likely part of the crowd. Mark notes “green grass,” suggesting springtime. Again, another small but important detail is that the structure of “hundreds and fifties” mirrors the organization of Israel in the wilderness.
VERSES 41-44
The language mirrors the Last Supper in Mark 14 and anticipates and foreshadows themes of communion. Jesus blesses what is little and gives it to His disciples to serve. The last of the small but important details here is “Twelve baskets,” which corresponds to the twelve tribes of Israel, symbolizing full provision for God’s people. The word satisfied means fully fed, not just a snack. Only men are counted, per common practice, though total attendance (including women and children) may have exceeded 15,000–20,000. The scale of the miracle is staggering.
TODAY’S KEY TRUTH
Jesus doesn’t ask you to solve the problem:
He asks you to surrender both it and yourself to Him.
SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS
The disciples were tired. They had just returned from a demanding time of ministry: preaching, healing, casting out demons. They came back to Jesus excited but drained, ready for a well-deserved break. Jesus, always attentive to the needs of His followers, invited them to retreat with Him to a quiet place to rest. They set out by boat to escape the crowds, but the crowds followed. In fact, they arrived ahead of them.
Instead of being frustrated, Jesus saw the crowd and had compassion on them, describing them as “sheep without a shepherd.” He taught them many things, spending time feeding their souls. But as the sun sank low, the disciples’ anxiety began to rise. They looked at the mass of people and saw only the problem: thousands of hungry men, women, and children in a remote area with no access to food. Their solution? Send them away.
But Jesus had another plan. He turned to His disciples and said, “You give them something to eat.” The command didn’t make sense. They did the math and quickly realized it would take more than eight months’ wages to feed that many people. “Are we supposed to buy that much bread?” they asked, half in sarcasm, half in panic.
Jesus didn’t argue. He simply asked, “What do you have?” They found a small offering, five loaves and two fish, brought by a boy in the crowd. It was laughably inadequate. But it was surrendered. And that’s all Jesus needed. He took the offering, looked to heaven, blessed it, and began to break the bread. Then He handed the pieces to the disciples to distribute. Miraculously, the food didn’t run out. Not only did everyone eat, but they were satisfied, and twelve baskets of leftovers remained.
This wasn’t just a story about feeding people. It was a story about surrender, sufficiency, and the character of Jesus. He never intended for the disciples to solve the problem. He simply wanted them to bring what they had and trust Him to do what only He could.
At its core, this miracle isn’t just about loaves and fish; it’s about leadership, trust, and surrender. Jesus' interaction with the disciples exposes a pattern familiar to all of us. We encounter needs, whether in our families, our churches, our workplaces, or our communities, that exceed our capacity. We assess the situation with logic, and when we realize we don’t have enough, our instinct is to dismiss the problem, ignore it, or retreat from it.
But Jesus doesn’t ask us to come up with the solution. He asks us to offer what’s in our hands. That was the heart of the theological message here:
Jesus knew the disciples didn’t have enough food.
He knew the boy’s lunch was barely a snack.
He knew the crowd was too large to feed by human means.
And still He said, “You give them something to eat.”
Why? Because the lesson was never about them solving the problem. It was always about seeing who they were walking with. Jesus was teaching them what real leadership in His kingdom looks like: not problem-solving through human strength, but surrendering what little you have in trust, allowing divine strength to do the rest.
This lesson is crucial for modern disciples, especially leaders. We live in a world that praises independence, celebrates efficiency, and demands that we always have a plan. Leaders are expected to be fixers. But spiritual leadership looks different. God is not impressed by our five-year plans or our ability to multitask. He’s looking for people who will trust Him with what they already have.
The disciples offered what seemed useless. Jesus turned it into abundance. Why? Because the kingdom of God does not operate on the economy of scarcity but on the abundance of grace. When we bring our limited resources, our time, energy, wisdom, finances, patience, and place them in His hands, He multiplies them in ways we can’t predict.
Maybe you’re facing a situation right now where what you have feels insufficient. Maybe you're a parent who feels underqualified, a leader stretched thin, a business owner trying to stay afloat, or simply a believer overwhelmed by the weight of brokenness around you. You feel the tug of responsibility but lack the resources to respond.
You’ve done the math. You’ve considered your options. Maybe you’ve even told God, “This is too much. I can’t fix this.” And that’s exactly where the miracle begins.
Jesus isn’t asking you to fix it. He’s not asking you to provide the answer. He’s simply asking you to bring what’s in your hands. Bring the little strength you have. Bring your small prayer. Bring your simple obedience. Bring your five loaves and two fish, even if it feels laughable.
Because the miracle doesn’t begin with sufficiency. It begins with surrender.
This story also reminds us that what seems small to us is never small in the hands of God. The boy’s lunch wasn’t just a meal; it became a testimony. It was never about the size of the gift. It was about the willingness to give it.
Jesus still invites us into this kind of faith. He still says, “You give them something.” Not because He expects you to be the source, but because He wants to show you what He can do through your surrender.
Don’t underestimate what He can do with what you offer. What feels like not enough to you may be exactly what He will use to feed thousands.
So the next time you’re facing more than you can handle, remember this:
Jesus doesn’t ask you to solve the problem: He asks you to surrender both it and yourself to Him.
CONCLUSION
There’s something deeply freeing about realizing that you don’t have to be the answer. You don’t have to hold it all together. You don’t have to carry the full weight of the problem. You don’t have to pretend that you are enough or that what you have is enough. You’re not expected to be a miracle worker; you’re simply called to bring what you've got.
That’s the power behind “Bring What You Got.” It sounds simple, almost understated. But tucked inside those four words is a radical reordering of how we think about life, leadership, calling, and crisis. Jesus didn’t turn to His disciples and say, “Figure it out.” He said, “What do you have?” That one question turns the pressure of performance into the invitation to surrender.
Jesus doesn’t ask you to solve the problem: He asks you to surrender both it and yourself to Him.
This is the kind of truth that takes a lifetime to learn, but only a moment to begin living. Because surrender is not about loss, it’s about trust. It’s about bringing your limited time, your imperfect faith, your frayed emotions, your financial uncertainty, your weary soul, and placing it all in the hands of Jesus, who sees more than you see and can do more than you can do.
Think about the disciples. They stood there, staring out at thousands of hungry faces, completely aware of how little they had to give. They did what we often do when calculating costs: they voiced the impossibility and they tried to shift the responsibility. But Jesus turned their attention to what was already in their possession. Five loaves. Two fish. Barely enough for a boy’s lunch. And yet, when surrendered, it became the source of satisfaction for a multitude.
This isn’t just about bread and fish. It’s about your life. Your leadership. Your story. It’s about what happens when you stop trying to be the answer and start trusting the One who is. There is peace on the other side of surrender. There is joy in the release. Because when you bring what you have, however small it may feel, you’re not handing it off to chance. You’re placing it in the hands of Jesus.
And Jesus never wastes what we surrender.
In fact, when you bring what you have, you not only experience peace for yourself, but you also become a blessing to others. That’s the double miracle of this story. The disciples gave what little they had, and Jesus didn’t just meet their needs; He multiplied it to feed everyone around them. The blessing didn’t stay in their hands; it moved through their hands to others.
That’s how God works. He doesn’t fill you, so you can sit in satisfaction and stillness. He fills you so you can pour out. He blesses what you surrender so it can ripple into the lives of people you never imagined touching. When you bring what you have, it doesn’t just bring peace to your heart; it brings provision to someone else's need.
Jesus doesn’t ask you to solve the problem: He asks you to surrender both it and yourself to Him.
So here’s the challenge, and it’s not easy: stop waiting for more. Stop telling God you’ll be ready when. When you have more time. When you feel more equipped. When life calms down. When the doors open. When you have the right plan. Jesus isn’t asking for more. He’s asking for now. For what’s in your hand. For what’s already in your grasp. That’s where the miracle begins.
Maybe it’s a small voice of encouragement you’ve been afraid to speak. Maybe it’s giving that feels risky. Maybe it’s a calling you’ve been ignoring, a decision you’ve been postponing, or a relationship you’ve been too hurt to engage with. Whatever it is, hear the invitation of Jesus again: “You give them something.” Not because you are the solution, but because your surrender unlocks what only He can do.
Friend, don’t underestimate your five loaves and two fish. Don’t minimize what’s in your hands. Don’t believe the lie that your offering is too small to matter. If it’s surrendered, it’s sacred. If it’s offered, it’s enough. If it’s in His hands, it’s more than sufficient.
And here’s the beautiful result: you will find peace, not because the problems disappear, but because the pressure does. The burden to fix it, to provide for it, to make it work. That burden lifts when you trust Jesus with what’s yours. And in that peace, you’ll find the courage to lead again. To love again. To give again. To hope again.
So today, bring what you have. Lay it before the One who breaks bread and feeds thousands. Surrender the problem and yourself to Jesus. And watch Him do what only He can.
Because in the kingdom of God, surrender is never the end. It’s always just the beginning.
Jesus doesn’t ask you to solve the problem:
He asks you to surrender both it and yourself to Him.