It’s Friday, December 19th, 2025. NHCC has officially wrapped up their Fall semester! After all their hard work, the students are getting a break from the classroom — especially the tests. Remember pop quizzes in school? The ones the teacher sprung on you the moment you felt most unprepared? No time to study… no way to get ready… just, “Clear your desks, pencils out.”
John 6 opens with one of those moments. A crowd of thousands presses in on Jesus, and the disciples suddenly find themselves in a classroom they didn’t know they were in.
Today's Reading:
John 5,6
Scripture
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.” (John 6:5-6)
Observation
Philip answers the question exactly how I probably would: by doing the math. Eight months of wages wouldn’t be enough…
Philip focuses on the problem.
Philip focuses on what they don’t have.
And then Andrew steps forward, like a bully on a playground holding a tiny lunch he mugged off a kid: “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish…”
Not much, but it’s something.
Jesus doesn’t begin with what’s missing.
He starts with what’s present.
God has always done His greatest work through what’s already in human hands:
Moses’ staff
David’s sling
A widow’s oil
Five loaves and two fish
Pop quiz: Can I trust God with what I don’t have by giving Him what I do have?
Application
When I face a challenge, I almost always begin with what I don’t have: not enough time, not enough wisdom, not enough resources, not enough strength. But Jesus invites me to begin with an inventory instead of insecurity. Lay down the little I do have and trust Him with it.
Faith doesn’t start with what’s absent; it begins with what’s present.
I never noticed this before, but John tells us the lunch was tiny… yet the grass was plentiful. There was space for everyone to sit. Five loaves and two fish felt small, but there was plenty of room for Jesus to work.
That might be the heart of the miracle: when I give God room and trust Him with the little I have, He turns open space and small resources into overwhelming abundance.
In every pop quiz of faith, Jesus is testing me. He’s saying, “I already know what I am going to do. Just bring Me what’s in your hands. Then, sit back and watch me work.” Faith doesn’t pass the quiz by listing what I’m missing; faith passes by surrendering what I’m holding.
Prayer
Jesus, thank You that You already know what You’re going to do with my life, my needs, and my future. Help me to place every loaf and fish into Your hands with faith. Use whatever I have to bring glory to You. In Your name, Amen.
–Chris Kiriakos
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