Food for Thought!

 

Once upon a time, in the time before huge crowds were riddled with plague infested people (that’s a joke), I enjoyed going out to the occasional restaurant with my family.  I especially liked it when my children were ACTUALLY children because it didn’t cost me an arm and a leg.  During those days, I was known to visit a buffet from time to time.  Who doesn’t like a buffet?

I love a good buffet!  What can be better than aisles of steaming hot food waiting for mass human consumption?  Besides gluttony there’s the risk people contaminating the food but that’s what the sneeze guard is for, right?

The worst thing that could happen at a buffet, besides an unwanted stomach ailment, is when they run out of food!  I have seen people LOSE IT when a buffet style restaurant does not have the dish they came for!  It becomes all the more insane when the already irate patron is told their favourite food item is not about to be replenished!  Yikes!!!

While I have never been one of those irate customers, I have stood at the back of many church potluck queues and wondered if there would be any food left by the time I made it to the serving area.  Imagine, if you will, a (pre-Covid) crowd of five thousand people gathered on the lawn to eat and the only food available was fives loaves of bread and two fish.  

He said to them, “How much bread do you have? Take a look.”

After checking, they said, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.”

He directed the disciples to seat all the people in groups as though they were having a banquet on the green grass. They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke the loaves into pieces, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. Everyone ate until they were full.    (Mark 6:38-42, Common English Bible).

I am almost certain there were people in the crowd, after hearing about what this entire banquet consisted of, thought there was no way they were eating that day!  I am not even talking about the last person.  If I were the eighth person in line simple math would say I’m not getting anything YET they all sat down and waited.  I’ve waited at restaurants for 30 minutes, and more, for my food to arrive, I cannot imagine what it would have been like to wait for 12 people to bring around the food, or how long it took, but they waited. Their patience paid off because all had more than enough to eat.  Verse 43 says there was even twelve baskets of leftovers!

There have been times that I have felt like the good things happening to others would never come my way.  I’m sure we all have felt that way occasionally.  We can grow frustrated with the lack of movement in our lives.  I want to encourage you to keep waiting.  Don’t lose hope.  Your time is coming!

The crowd gathered around Jesus and received all they needed; all they had to do was sit and wait.  It’s not always easy to wait.  It can be frustrating. It can be painful but I believe if we are about to receive something that we need (not want), then waiting doesn’t have to be all that bad!