Give Them Something to Eat

I watched the sun setting slowly over the hills. Soon it would be dark and an unknown fear gripped me. For the first time, I would go to bed without seeing my mother.

In my mind’s eye, I could see her at home preparing dinner. I was 10 years old and in a boarding school 250 kilometers away from home. It would be another 90 days before I saw her again. I longed for her protection and the safety of my home.

I remembered this longing 25 years later, when I met a little girl named Chantal. She was staring down at her feet, so afraid. Her frail hand held on tightly to the girl standing next to her. She couldn’t have been more than 6 years old.

I asked about her and learned that her parents had died some weeks ago. She and her sister, Jackie, were looking for a place to live and had been moving around begging for food.

My heart broke as my mind went back 25 years. But, unlike me, Chantal would never see her mother again. Unlike me, she wasn’t in a place considered remotely safe. She didn’t know where her next meal would come from, and her total sense of safety rested in her tiny sister.

Thankfully, I was here on a mission of hope. Compassion was establishing a home for highly vulnerable children, and Chantal and Jackie would be among the first beneficiaries. I thanked God for this divine provision. We wouldn’t just walk away.

The story in Matthew illustrates the great compassion of our Lord Jesus. The disciples were tempted to send the crowds away, but Jesus commanded, “You give them something to eat.”

As we encounter various challenges in our work, let’s remember that we are not alone but working in partnership with the Lord. He is willing to work with us, in our obedience to Him, to help us give His children “something to eat.”

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” —Matthew 14:15–16, NIV

Prayer: Lord, fill our hearts with your compassion so that we will be moved to action. Above all, help us remember that we are not in this work alone, but in partnership with you, and to you only be all the glory.

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