Have you ever tried to accomplish something really big, something that can’t be thrown together in a few minutes? I have found that the larger the project, the more organization that is needed in order to accomplish it. Organization is not the enemy. If you are going to do big things, organization is essential. Being organized is not against God’s will. Take a look at Creation. It is extremely organized. Even things that seem pretty chaotic, organization is evident.
The task of feeding 5000 people takes organization. I have been to some very large gatherings. The larger the gathering, the easier it is to fall into chaos, and the greater the need for systems to help prevent that fall. Jesus recognizes this need and enlists His disciples to begin the process of organization.
The first step to organization is to break the project down into manageable pieces. No one can keep all the pieces of a large project in focus at the same time. You have to break it down so that everyone can see the individual pieces and how they fit into the whole.
This is exactly what Jesus does as He prepares to feed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. He has the disciples gather them into groups of 100s and 50s. Having smaller groups allows the disciples to be able to spread out and cover the area efficiently. Think about 100 groups of 50. You can almost get a grip on that. But 5000 individuals, that really can’t be grasped. If you don’t break them into groups, how do you know who still needs to be served? There could be whole pockets of people who still haven’t eaten and you really couldn’t tell.
Breaking into smaller groups also makes distribution fairly easy. Just give some to one representative from each group and allow them to give to their group. This would only take a few minutes. But if you had to give to every individual, it would take hours.
Next time you have a big project to accomplish, take time to break it down into smaller portions. Make them bite-sized pieces, pieces that can easily be accomplished. Then when it is done you can move on to the next piece. Soon the whole project will be in the rearview mirror.
The Arnold Journey 