The Gift of Experience: Hope Prevails

Faith in Numbers

"Certainly we should be very active in seeking God, and Jesus himself called us to 'ask, seek, knock' in order to find him. Yet those who enter a relationship with God inevitably look back and recognize that God's grace had sought them out, breaking them open to new realities." - Tim Keller

Five is the number of grace. When we think of the miracle Jesus performed in John Chapter 6, the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus asked the disciples how much food they had. The disciples then searched through the crowds and found a little boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. The boy surrendered his lunch and they brought it back to Jesus. After giving thanks, Jesus broke the bread and the people ate as much as they wanted.

In order to receive the grace of God, we have to first submit our hearts and our troubles to Him. We have to give thanks for His faithfulness, usually in advance. In fact, it's a huge advantage to us to place our trust in God and express our faith through thanking him before we see our triumph. Jesus was giving us an example when He thanked God and broke the bread. The result was God's grace in supplying more than enough for all the people to eat.

The number 2, like the two fish, is a significant number, also. It represents duality or partnership. Five loaves of bread = grace. Two fish = duality. So in the aforementioned example, I believe Jesus is exemplifying a courtship of reverence between himself and God. The relationship between ourselves and God is so important. If we are not seeking His will for our lives, how will we ever find our purpose? I believe purpose comes from a pairing of God-given talents and an active desire to use them to glorify Him. "Pairing" is also, as we know, another way of saying "two coming together."

When added together, the numbers five and two equal seven, which is the number of completion. If we are not in partnership with God, how will we receive His grace? In the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus pairs his duality with God, and His submission of will, (along with his need to feed the many people,) and God gives his grace by answering his prayer. He supplied enough food to fill everyone and gave each of the disciples a doggy basket. ("...more than you can ask, think, or imagine.") That signifies God's completion of a miracle. "So it is by grace, through faith, that you have been saved--and this is not from yourselves, but it is the gift of God-- not by works so that no man can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

Grace + Duality = Completion. He reaches toward us with Grace, we honor Him with our partnership/relationship, and the result is Completion by way of Miracles.