SUSAN TYNER | CONTRIBUTOR

I thought I’d be ready. More rested. Eager to begin.

Instead, as I look down the barrel of my calendar, I feel tired. In May I imagined the summer months would give me the rest and rejuvenation I needed after a hard spring. But, as I face August and the upcoming “kick offs” of ministry, my body is slow to move. My brain sputters as I start making lists. My heart questions once again if God will provide the volunteers.

I focus on my present limitations much more than I remember God’s past help.

But thankfully, God reminds me of a time His disciples felt the overwhelming ratio between a need and their ability to meet it. This story—found in all four gospels—gives me a template for facing a new year of ministry: the sack lunch approach. When Jesus and His disciples were chased down by the crowds in a remote area, and it was approaching dinnertime, He told the disciples to feed the crowd of 5,000. What did they have on hand? A first century Lunchables: a boy’s two fish and five loaves of bread.

They did not have UberEats. No DoorDash. Not even a Super Walmart with frozen pizzas. And what about the cost? Philip must have been the detail-oriented disciple. He pointed out that even if they could find that much food, how would they pay for it?

But the real limitation the disciples had was their weariness. Notice in Luke 9 why they were trying to escape the crowds in the previous verses: Jesus wanted to hear all about their trips to tackle demons and suffering. Also, Herod has just executed John the Baptist at the whim of a dancing girl. Not only were they coming off a big adrenalin hit of healing others and the exhaustion of travel, but also heartbreak and fear over John’s execution. This is a hard combo to hold when Jesus says, “You feed the 5,000.” It looks like they were not much different than Elijah when he fled Jezebel after the big win at Mount Carmel (I Kings 19). He could not see past his exhaustion and fear even though he had just witnessed God light the soaked altar.

Weariness gives us amnesia of God’s past provision.

Thankfully, Jesus did not scold His disciples or just wave a magic wand for a massive picnic spread. He took the small meal and multiplied it over five thousand times. To underscore the point, He told the twelve to pick up the leftovers—twelve baskets full! Jesus showed them (and us) how He uses our limited resources to create abundant ministry. He also puts the spotlight on the One truly responsible for our ministry, echoing Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This fall, I am not hosting a picnic for 5,000, but I am overwhelmed at the lift of beginning again. Here are reminders when I bring my meager sack lunch to Jesus:

Be content to be weak

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:9–10).

I remind myself that even before sin entered the Garden, humans were limited. We were created to sleep, to eat, and to take a Sabbath. And, as a child of God, my identity begins and ends in my relationship with Christ, not in my relationship with my to-do list.

It’s good to not be The Best

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1 Cor. 1:26–29).

God loves to show off His power by grabbing the ones least likely to be picked for the “recess games of ministry.” You may feel more comfortable with your practiced lecture, your seminary degree, or your ability to hold a room, but the truly powerful ingredient for change comes from the Spirit. Our abilities to recruit volunteers, money-whip budget problems, or write a biblical curriculum may be used by God but they do fade when compared to the Holy Spirit’s power.

We receive confidence to take risks through prayer, more so than in our prep.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:15–16).

Feeling overwhelmed? Go to your Father. Shut down by all the preparation “should have done’s?” Get on your knees. Starting to panic about getting it all done in time? Bow to His plans before yours start falling apart. And, as you pray, remember that your friend Jesus knows how you feel…that is, how it is to be limited in a human body that gets worn out, that only has twenty-four hours in a day, and that needs to pause to eat. He knows the feeling of dreading a hard ministry day—to the point of sweating blood. He is compassionate and kind, and He prays at our Father’s side for you as well as your new year of ministry.

So, as we face the new year to-do lists, let’s embrace this sack lunch mindset. Do not back out of great ministry opportunity because you are weary or discouraged. Take your limitation to Him in prayer and enjoy watching what He does with it. Even look back and remember the ways He’s multiplied your little into large. Get ready to be overwhelmed with joy instead of doubt—and have plenty of baskets ready for the leftovers.

Photo by Jasmin Schreiber on Unsplash