The Gospel of John says, “Jesus did so many amazing things that the whole world could not contain the books that could be written about him” (John 21:25).

There must be millions of podcasts, and books about the miracles of Jesus.  So what if we could discover how Jesus wants us to participate in his miracles – so we can experience even more of them in our lives right now.

We’ll begin by looking at Jesus feeding of the 5000, which is the only miracle mentioned in all four gospels.  As evening fast approached, the disciples expressed their concern to Jesus – they needed to send the people away to get food and shelter.  When Jesus told his disciples to feed them, they exclaimed how it would cost more than six months wages to feed the big crowd. Let’s look closely and discover how this applies to us.

“One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ‘Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?’ ‘Have the people sit down,’ Jesus said. Now there was plenty of grass in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.’ So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten” (John 6:8-13).

Wow!  Something incredible, truly miraculous happened here.  In one sweeping event, Jesus not only proclaimed his identity as the Son of God, but showed God’s compassion for his people, while giving all of us a glimpse of heaven.   Like a flash of lightning in a dark sky, this miracle allows us to see how there is no hunger in heaven.

But now, let’s stretch our faith even wider, to see how Jesus may have involved us inside this incredible miracle – a miracle that may not have even happened without our participation.  We’ll start with Andrew, the brother of Peter, who brought the little boy with the five loaves and the two tiny fish (think sardine sized fish) to Jesus.  The beauty of Andrew (who also brought Peter to meet Jesus) is that he simply did his part.  It’s as if he said, “I’ll see what I can do, and I’ll trust Jesus to do the rest.”

In the same way that Andrew introduced Peter, and now the boy to Jesus, none of us knows what possibilities arise when we share our faith story, pray with someone, or bring somebody to Jesus.  We simply need to do our part, however small, and let Jesus do his.  There is no doubt that God can take our little effort and turn it into something big.

For example, no one knows who Grady Wilson is, but everyone knows Billy Graham.  When we learn that Grady was one of Billy’s best friends, and together they went to a Christian revival meeting where both gave their lives to Jesus, we can see God working through that friendship.

Next, we have the little boy.  Just imagine this boy overhearing the conversation about feeding this throng of people.  Of course, he doesn’t want to disturb Jesus – but sees that Andrew is one of the disciples.  It would have taken courage to go to Andrew, but even more so, given the impossibility of the situation, it would have taken the innocence of a child to do so.

And this is what Jesus calls us to do every day.  To have the boldness to do our part, perhaps by praying with a friend, maybe by encouraging someone who is struggling, possibly by asking for forgiveness, or by showing generosity to someone in need.  And to do so with the innocence of a child who trusts their Heavenly Father…  The innocence to be able to do our little part in order toallow God to do his big part!  Together, with God, let’s make miracles come true in the lives of others.