“He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake....And they did all eat, and were filled.” Matthew 14:19-2019And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. (Matthew 14:19‑20)
I cannot tell why my hopes should lie broken
As some bright sea-shell, stepped on carelessly,
While others’ lives seem so complete, unbroken,
By cruel touch of dread adversity.
I cannot tell why my tears should flow freely
As from a fountain deep of bitter grief,
Why just as cup of joy is passing by me
It falls and shatters, as if purposely.
But this I know…that in God’s bright tomorrow
There are no broken hopes, no shattered joys –
That all the griefs that gather here as storm-clouds
Will shine o’er there as gold without alloy.
And this I know…He breaks me but to make me
Into a useful vessel, for Himself.
As Gideon’s army broke their earthen pitchers
To let the light shine out unhinderedly.
And this I know…He breaks to multiply me –
(Oh wondrous touch that only God doth have!)
As the five loaves on verdant hills of Judah
Were broken e’er they fed the multitude.
So let Him break, if needed, every bright hope –
Each dream, each cup of earthly joy –
“They shall not be ashamed who wait upon Me”
So I can wait ‘till over there, for joy!
For this I know…the choice is mine
To give or to withhold, and I must choose.
The frankincense of praise – a costly gift –
From yielded hearts ascends most perfectly.
And this I know….that He alone is worthy!
I’d pour my all upon His pierced feet,
My praise and adoration for His goodness
Mingled perhaps with tears, is most complete.