John 6:12-13 NIV
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
John 6:12-13 KJV
When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
Let the people say, He Wastes Nothing!
How have you all been feeling, especially during this Pandemic? This has definitely been a really tough time for most! And after the tough moments, sometimes all you feel you have or all you feel that you are, are the pieces that are left over. What about not even just during Covid-19, but after a bad breakup, a death in the family, a situation that has taken you through mentally as well as physically?
I’ll even get specific & personal right now! I am feeling like fragments or pieces of myself, not really whole, but just pieces of my usual self because of our current situation. Our Son was born prematurely during Covid, so as a result, he has to stay in the Nicu until he is physically ready to come home, but because of the current pandemic, we as his parents and family cannot see him, touch him or visit him until his discharge date, which no one knows as of yet what that will be. As of right now, it has been almost two weeks since I’ve been able to hold my baby. As a mother who just had this baby in her belly and felt every kick, every hiccup, every movement and then nothing for days & weeks, this has been extremely difficult, probably one of the most difficult things I’ve ever encountered. I feel like it is taking all of me and I have nothing left to give to anyone; to my husband, my oldest child, the rest of my family, nothing. I feel like only fragments of myself. Have you ever gone through something that has left you feeling like there are only pieces of you left??? If so, please keep reading! Because here is the great thing about God, our Father; He absolutely wastes nothing, no matter what we are feeling. He can still use it! I was reminded of this very thought when I ran across this scripture:
John 6:12-13 KJV
When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
God began to speak to me about what He did in this scripture. The miracle was not yet completed until the leftovers were taken care of! This completed the miracle; THE FRAGMENTS! God still used them!!! The pieces they had left were enough to fill 12 baskets! The pieces that were left over He said to let nothing be wasted! He doesn’t waste your tears, He doesn’t waste an experience, He doesn’t waste YOU!! I truly believe that this experience with our newborn son will not be wasted! I believe God is using this even now to minister to me about His faithfulness and love, and teaching me to trust and depend on Him fully! In addition, I believe He is using it to allow me to minister to YOU! He doesn’t waste a moment to even show you how great He truly is and can be in your life if you just trust and lean on Him and not your own understanding! Because most of us would have looked at the fragments as trash and not worthy to be used by anyone for anything and would have mistakenly given up or thrown those pieces or fragments away. In fact, the enemy is salivating at the mouth hoping you’d do just that, give up those fragments and consider yourself wasted. He plots the lies in your mind telling you that you’re a failure as a mom, or wife or whatever, so that you can then take your fragments, gather them up, and not be used for anything meaningful.
But God shows us the VALUE of the fragments. He shows us HIS ABILITY and what HE can do with a little and how He can work it out to make it into something GREAT. 12 Baskets were made out of fragments. Lives get saved out of your fragments of brokenness. People come back to God out of your experiences of pain. The leftovers are just the beginning of something magnificent! The scriptures go on to say that because of this MIRACLE (not just feeding the 5 thousand but the FULL MIRACLE including the fragments that made 12 baskets of leftovers) that people began to believe who He said He was.
God takes your fragments and turns them into overflow. No one saw the value but God, that is why Jesus ordered the disciples to gather them up so that nothing is lost.... He values you so much so that every part of you, including what you think is nothing, is used and absolutely nothing is LOST. Every part of you.... to create overflow, enough to feed more if need be, but all you saw and all the enemy wanted you to see was that you were not enough...
My current desire is that I start to see what God sees in me, and that even the situations and circumstances that cause me to feel less than, I still want to see the value... and that He wastes nothing.
Your fragments are only the beginning of something powerful, only if you allow God to fully complete the Miracle. Allow God to work the pieces out in your life and watch Him as He turns it into something worth believing in.
Do not mistake your fragments as useless. With God, ALL things work TOGETHER for your good. Just surrender those pieces and He will in turn complete the miracle in your life.
Amen?
💋Denia Shanelle
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