Less Equals More

Less Can Equal More

How often do we size up what we have and assume it is too little to amount to anything? I remember an old saying, “That’ll never amount to a hill of beans.” With my limited gardening experience, it was common when planting corn or beans to place two or three seeds in each hill and hope for at least one to come up to create a stalk of corn or beans. I suppose if a person only had one seed to put in a hill it may not survive and reproduce a crop. Thus the saying may have originated from something like having only one seed in a hill.

Jesus and His disciples were about to take a boat trip. After they had shoved off from shore He said to them, “Beware of the leaven of the scribes and the leaven of Herod.” Then they began to reason among themselves thinking Jesus was concerned about having enough bread. Jesus over heard their discussion and asked why they hadn’t understood that He was not speaking of bread but of the teaching or doctrine of the Pharisees and Herod. Then, concerning natural bread He reminded them of the time He multiplied the five loves and fed twelve thousand with twelve baskets of fragments left over and when He multiplied the seven loaves to feed four thousand with seven baskets of fragments left over. Then He asked them a curious question. “How is it that you do not understand?” It appears there were two things Jesus really wanted them to get. One was concerning the deceitful doctrine of the Pharisees and the second was having only one loaf of bread was not a problem, in fact it may set the stage for an even greater miracle.

If five loaves were multiplied with twelve baskets of fragments left over and seven loaves were multiplied with seven baskets leftover, it would appear that starting with less added up to serving a greater number with even more left over. God delights in taking that which appears inadequate and turning it into more than enough. Men would say it will never amount to a hill of beans but God will use it to feed the multitudes.

God has given each of us bread or seed to reproduce and to bear fruit in His Kingdom. The seed may be various talents or gifts of ministry or even natural skills. It is obvious that God has given gifts according to His own will. Some are more talented in one area while others are talented in different ways. We have a tendency to look at those more gifted than us and conclude we do not have enough to amount to anything. But Jesus does not want those who only have one loaf to assume it would never amount to a hill of beans. Jesus may be alluding to the possibility of the lesser having the ability to be used in an even greater dimension. Let’s do the math. If seven fed four thousand with seven baskets left and five fed twelve thousand with twelve baskets left, then one loaf might feed fifty thousand with one hundred baskets of fragments left. I am not suggesting there is a scientific formula for this I’m just trying to point out a trend in the numbers.

My point is totally that we should never belittle what God has put in our hands, no matter how small or insignificant it may appear. The parable Jesus taught concerning the mustard seed confirms this thought. Though the mustard seed is smallest among seeds and seemingly insignificant, when planted it will grow into a tree large enough for the birds of the air to take refuge in.

Those who received the word yet did not mix it with faith profited nothing from it. It takes more faith on our part to challenge the greater need with the fewer loaves. Planting the seed through faith is what makes it grow. Having greater faith will not necessarily put an earthly bakery at our disposal but an ability to transfer substance from the unseen realm of heaven into the visible realm of earth. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things unseen. God has a bakery in heaven, to supply us with the bread of His word and also natural bread when needed. It is up to us to recognize the little we now have is the key to opening heaven’s windows. Planting the small seed initiates the miracle. When a seed falls into the ground it is as good as dead, buried out of sight, but a miracle occurs and it becomes a plant that contains more seed within it. Just as Abraham’s descendants multiplied beyond numbering, one small seed or loaf can be multiplied beyond our ability to count.

The parable of the talents also parallels this thought. The servant who was given just one talent did not take it seriously but set it aside in a safe place. He may have said it will never amount to a hill of beans. A distorted image of his master made him afraid to risk losing the talent so he protected it instead. The very thing he feared came upon him. When his master returned to find he had done nothing with it, it was taken from him and given to the other faithful servant. Planting the seed and bringing forth a harvest is the goal. Taking what God has put in our trust and investing it in the fields of this world will reap a harvest of souls.

God loves to use the things that are weak and despised by men to demonstrate His power. The Old Testament records several accounts of God giving great victory to small insignificant bands of warriors so that He would get the glory. Paul said that his preaching was not with excellent speech or enticing words of human wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and power so that our faith would not rest on man’s wisdom but on the power of God.

I want to be found faithful with the talents that have been entrusted to me. I refuse to look at the small loaf I have in my hand and fail to challenge the great need and hunger of the multitudes with it. I must do my part to take what God has blessed and break it into pieces and serve it out believing God to multiply it to meet the need of those who partake of it. I will not assume that excellent speech and communication skills are required to deliver God’s message lest I promote faith in man’s abilities and wisdom rather than the power of God to make much out of little.