Recently, I have seen several versions of these math puzzles posted. Have you seen them? Here’s one I found just now when I searched:
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These puzzles frustrate me! For one, math is not my strongest subject area. (Yes, there is a reason I teach reading!) Second, they never post an answer with them, so how are you supposed to know when you get it right (or wrong)?! But, third, they are really designed to be tricky. Everything looks pretty simple until the last line, and if I don’t look carefully enough, I will mess it up. Notice here, for instance, that the waffle fry containers are doubled in line 3, but single in line 4.
But the multiplication sign is where I’ve noticed many people get thrown way off. See, if you add first, then multiply, you probably get 60, but if you multiply first (“please excuse my dear Aunt Sally” order of operations), you get 15. That multiplication sign makes a surprisingly big difference in your answer.
Sometimes math just really surprises me--especially God’s math! When Jesus noticed that there was a very large crowd gathered at suppertime, he asked his disciples, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:5). Now, there was no Walmart Supercenter nearby--no drive thru windows, no pizza carry-out joints--they had nothing available to them to purchase food, even if they would have had the money (which they didn’t). Philip says that even if they had half a year’s wages, they’d be lucky to give each person a single bite to eat.
But Andrew brings a boy to Jesus who has two small loaves and five fish. This isn’t much, and Andrew knows it. So why did he even bring it to Jesus? He even voices his own doubts in verse 9 saying, “How far will they go among so many?”
You probably remember the rest of the story. Jesus took the small amount, gave thanks for it, broke it into pieces, and had it distributed throughout the crowd. Not only did they have enough, but there were 12 baskets of leftovers.
Often, I feel like I have so very little to bring to Jesus. I even find myself thinking that my little bit could not possibly be enough, so why even bring it? In Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s accounts, the disciples tell Jesus to send the crowd away so they can find their own food and lodging. I admit, sometimes that is my attitude as well. I can’t possibly make a difference here, so they’ll have to go somewhere else. Money, talent, time--why bother when it is such a little bit in the face of so many needs and problems?
This story reminds me why: because God’s math is surprising. God’s math takes a tiny bit and multiplies it exponentially. Even if I have very little, if I am willing to give it up to God, He can make more of it than I ever dreamed possible. Subtract to multiply!?
I can’t do everything I wish I could do for my students at school. I don’t have the time, talent, or money to help my coworkers like I wish I could. But God doesn’t ask me to do the multiplication. All I have to do is the subtraction: give it up to Him and let Him do the rest.
Father God,
Help us to recognize the little bits that we have can become astonishing amounts in Your hands. Give us hearts willing to give up even our small offerings of time, talent, and money to be used to multiply Your kingdom. Thank You, Lord, for multiplying our gifts to You!
For Small Groups:
Share a way that something little done by someone else has made a HUGE difference in your life.
What is one little thing that you could give to God this week?
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