There was a story told of Jesus in Matthew 14:14-21, Mark 6:35-44, and John 6:1-13 that I would like to share with you today about PROVISION.  Many are in need of supernatural provision, and the LORD wants you to know He has it and He is not greedy about sharing it with you.  Now, I’m going to use a lot of scriptures here about the same event, but read this, for there is something different in each account we need to see:

Mat 14:14  And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
Mat 14:15  And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
Mat 14:16  But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
Mat 14:17  And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
Mat 14:18  He said, Bring them hither to me.
Mat 14:19  And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Mat 14:20  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
Mat 14:21  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Here we see the disciples knew it was past supper time, and the people, including themselves, were hungry. They expected Jesus to send the people away to find food, but Jesus had a better idea:  YOU give them to eat. Well, the disciples had an excuse,We  have here but five loaves and two fishes… How many times have YOU looked at the provision you had on hand and saw it was not enough, THEN, the LORD asked you to give it away?  GIVE IT AWAY?? WHAT? ARE YOU NUTS??  It has happened to me more times than I can recall.

Jesus knew what THEY possessed was not enough, so He said, Bring them hither to me. And Jesus blessed it and multiplied it so that there was not just enough, but TOO MUCH!  And they gathered twelve baskets full left over after having fed about five thousand men, besides the women and children.
Here is Mark’s account:

Mar 6:35  And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:
Mar 6:36  Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.
Mar 6:37  He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
Pay attention to this: The disciples had in possession two hundred pennyworth in money.  A “Penny” was a “denarius”, which was equal to A DAY’S WAGES!  And yet, two hundred day’s wages was not enough to buy enough bread for this crowd!

Mar 6:38  He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
Jesus had them see what else they had available, and the LORD decided to use these loaves and fish, as people can’t eat money.  Can God multiply money?  Sure, but money wasn’t what they needed at the moment; food was.

Mar 6:39  And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
Mar 6:40  And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
Mar 6:41  And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
Mar 6:42  And they did all eat, and were filled.
Mar 6:43  And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
Mar 6:44  And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

Here’s John’s account:
Joh 6:1  After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
Joh 6:2  And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
Joh 6:3  And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
Joh 6:4  And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
Joh 6:5  When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
Joh 6:6  And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
Joh 6:7  Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
Joh 6:8  One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
Joh 6:9  There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
I like this part: Andrew pointed out the lad who had five loaves and two small fishes.  They belonged to the lad, not the disciples.  People have said they must have been HUGE loaves to feed so many, yet Jesus used that seemingly insignificant seed to bring forth a huge harvest by GIVING THANKS for what was available, and dividing it up among the disciples to distribute to the people as much as they cared to take.
Now, can’t you just see the disciples carrying these baskets that people reached up and took food out of, yet the baskets never emptied until the need was met?  That had to be exciting to the disciples, YET, they soon forgot about that miracle, just like WE often soon forget how God’s hand provided our last need that seemed impossible to meet.

Joh 6:10  And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Joh 6:11  And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
Joh 6:12  When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
Joh 6:13  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.

Jesus commanded the excess to be picked up so it would not be wasted.  God wastes NOTHING, and doesn’t want YOU to waste anything either.  He will often have you use up all you have on hand before He will match it with multiplication.  We will say you have a bill for a thousand dollars, and you ask God for a thousand dollars to pay that bill, yet you have a hundred dollars on hand.  You know it isn’t enough, but that doesn’t mean you should hoard it, but rather use that seed you have and let God increase it to meet the need.  There are instances in the Bible like in 2 Kings 4:1-7:

2Ki 4:1  Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
2Ki 4:2  And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
2Ki 4:3  Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
2Ki 4:4  And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.
2Ki 4:5  So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
2Ki 4:6  And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
2Ki 4:7  Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

Notice here that Elijah pointed out there was enough not only to pay the debt, but EXTRA for her and her children to live off of.  Like I said, God is the God of more than enough, of TOO MUCH! Don’t waste time “looking into God’s basket to see if it’s getting empty.”  God has more than what you need. You need to give thanks for what you have, and ask God to bless it and multiply it, and use it for what the need is at hand.  Don’t be concerned with the HOW God is going to do it; that isn’t your job.  When He says, Bring them hither to me, you just present God with what you DO have with thanksgiving and praise and let Him figure it out.  That’s HIS job.  And He does His job very well.