It is often said that if the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. And, as anyone who has tried to drive a crosshead screw with a flathead screwdriver can attest, you may get the job done, but the result won’t be pretty – or easy. Though all of us know this principle, we’ve seen it time and again in both our personal and professional lives, yet we often fail to take the time to get the proper tool for the job at hand, and nowhere is this more apt to be the case than in our spiritual lives.
Jesus’ disciples knew enough that the crowd before them had an unfulfilled need, but the only solution that they could come up with was to send them all away to take care of themselves. And why not? After all, they came on their own and received healing and teaching free of charge. Was it too much to ask that at the end of the day they move on and give the disciples a break? Go home for supper, we certainly can’t feed you.
But Jesus, again having compassion for the multitude says, “No. Don’t send them away. You feed them.” “But, Jesus, we don’t have enough!” complain the disciples, the same men who saw Jesus calm the sea by His spoken word, heal the sick and the blind and the lame with His touch, and even raise a dead girl to life from her bed of mourning by taking her hand. Yet it NEVER OCCURS to them to ask Jesus to feed the 5000. They would send the needy away, claiming impotence, before turning to Jesus to meet their needs, until the Lord finally says, “Bring them here to me.”
The word Matthew uses here is φέρω (fero), which means “to bring forth” and is the root of the word προσφορά (prosphora) meaning “to offer.” During the Divine Liturgy at the point of consecration of the gifts, the priest prays “These gifts, of Your own gifts, we offer to you on behalf of all and for all.” The verb is προσφέρουμεν (prosferoumen). Christ wants them to offer to Him these gifts, the fish and the bread, so that he can use them.
But the problem is that we tend to place God within our own limitations, as if what is impossible for me just simply cannot be done. We forget that God has no limits. He can satisfy our needs wherever and whenever. Says St. John Chrysostom, “For although the place be desert, yet He that feeds the world is here; and although the time be now past, yet He that is not subject to time is discoursing with you.”
When you’re in a room full of screws and hold nothing but a hammer, turn around and offer it to Christ. St Paul told the Corinthians that, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” He put you in that room, and he wants to give you the screwdriver you need, all you have to do is turn and ask Him for it.
The Church is where God keeps all of the tools you need for your spiritual life. Which ones are you leaving in the toolbox? Prayer? Fasting? Confession? Scripture reading? Fellowship? How long will you keep hammering away at problems that Jesus is waiting to heal if you will simply offer it to Him, and let Him bless it? Don’t leave your most versatile and powerful tool on the shelf, for nothing is hopeless when you join yourself to Him who is Hope.
An Orthodox Priest Abroad 