Power to Multiply

[Daily Devotional]

Power to Multiply 

Elisha said, "Give to the men, that they may eat." But his servant said,
"How am I to set this before a hundred men?" So he repeated, "Give them to
the men, that they may eat." 2 Kings 4:42, 43, RSV. 

"And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread
of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the
husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. 

"And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He
said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord,
They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they
did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord" (2 Kings
4:42-44). 

He who worked this miracle in behalf of 100 men in the Old Testament times
wrought a similar wonder for 5000 when as a Man He preached the gospel to
men. In the wilderness Christ supplied His people not only with bread but
with clear flowing streams. . . . 

It is the grace of God on the small portion that makes it all-sufficient.
God's hand can multiply it an hundredfold. From His resources He can spread
a table in the wilderness for more than a million people. By the touch of
His hand God can increase His scanty provision, and make it sufficient for
all. It was His power that increased the loaves and corn in the hands of the
sons of the prophets. 

The Lord has given His life to the trees and vines of His creation. His word
can increase or decrease the fruit of the land. If men would open their
understanding to discern the relation between nature and nature's God,
faithful acknowledgments of the Creator's power would be heard. Without the
life of God, nature would die. His creative works are dependent upon Him. He
bestows life-giving properties on all that nature produces. We are to regard
the trees laden with fruit as the gift of God, just as much as though He
placed the fruit in our hands (manuscript 114, 1899). 

In feeding the 5,000 Jesus lifts the veil from the world of nature, and
reveals the power that is constantly exercised for our good. In the
production of earth's harvests God is working a miracle every day. Through
natural agencies the same work is accomplished that was wrought in the
feeding of the multitude. . . . It is God who is every day feeding millions
from earth's harvest fields. Men are called upon to cooperate with God in
the care of the grain and the preparation of the loaf, and because of this
they lose sight of the divine agency. . . . He desires us to recognize Him
in His gifts, that they may be, as He intended, a blessing to us (The Desire
of Ages, pp. 367, 368). 

>From Lift Him Up - Page 62