A Crumb is Enough

Speaking with a new Christian, he was so moved by communion, he said, "I didn't just want a piece of bread, I wanted the entire loaf." We all hunger for love, for success, for perfection. I hunger for forgiveness.

I hunger for a day when I won't need forgiveness.

On more than one occasion, I have asked for the entire loaf. Big miracles from a really big God, deserving none of it.

A Canaanite woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter. He answered. "Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted." and her daughter was healed in that moment. Matthew chapter 15. To this woman, who was considered undesirable, a crumb was more than enough. When miracles do not arrive in the size and shape of my liking, I am discouraged and fail to be thankful for the crumb of blessing the Lord placed in my hand. A fever broken, pain subsiding, a peaceful night's sleep.

I will continue to be persistent in prayer, asking for the entire loaf, but knowing a crumb is more than enough. Thank you, Lord.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Speaking with a new Christian, he was so moved by communion,
he said, I didn't just want a piece of bread, I wanted the entire loaf.
This has stuck with me over the years. I don't know if it was the physical bread
or the spiritual, but I have had communion with homemade bread and thought,

(00:20):
just a little butter and the rest of the bread and I'm good.
One Sunday, we were running late with no time for breakfast.
The communion wine warmed my insides, and the taste lingered at least until church was over.
So now I pass on breakfast, or the goodies in the church kitchen, a mini-fast of sorts.

(00:43):
A little hunger, a little thirst, and a striking reward.
Living in a land of abundance, we don't really know hunger.
Now, I've known the man-I-need-a-pizza kind of hunger, but never I-haven't-eaten-in-a-week kind of hunger.
On a retreat, a prayer sponsor fasted for two days on my behalf,

(01:05):
and I was shaken to the core.
Then I saw him devour a pizza.
That's the only real hunger I've known. But we hunger inside.
Hunger for love, for success, for perfection.
I hunger for forgiveness. But like my friend who fasted for me,
Jesus sacrificed much more because he knew I would need it.

(01:31):
I hunger for a day when I won't need forgiveness anymore.
On more than one occasion, I have asked for the entire loaf.
Big miracles from a really big God, deserving none of it.
A Canaanite woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter. He answered.

(02:20):
Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted. and her daughter was healed
in that moment. Matthew chapter 15.
To this woman, who was considered undesirable, a crumb was more than enough.
When miracles do not arrive in the size and shape of my liking,
I am discouraged and fail to be thankful for the crumb of blessing the Lord placed in my hand.

(02:45):
A fever broken, pain subsiding, a peaceful night's sleep.
Tears hide the beauty of the sunrise and His mercies being made new.
I will continue to be persistent in prayer, asking for the entire loaf,
but knowing a crumb is more than enough. Thank you, Lord.