If our job is to provide the loaves and fishes, what loaves and fishes can we actually provide?
Believe it or not, Dallas Jenkins, the creator of The Chosen, started in the same place as you and me: as a young adult with a dream, unsure how exactly to achieve it. In his BYU forum address, “Five Loaves and Two Fishes,” Jenkins tells the story of his filmmaking journey, including some of his failures and lessons learned. He shares a valuable truth the Spirit taught him after a difficult defeat early in his career: “It’s not your job to feed the 5,000. It’s only to provide the loaves and fishes.”
The success of The Chosen shows us where his story has led, and he describes what he has learned from his journey to success and from continuous reflection on how to provide those loaves and fishes. Jenkins shares that, ultimately, we are asked to contribute because God “graciously involves us in the process.” Whatever our contribution may be, and whether it results in failure or success, God wants us to experience and learn so we can grow into the people he wants us to be.
As young adults entering new stages in life, we will likely question ourselves again and again about our career paths, personal lives, and religious commitments. So what loaves and fishes can we actually provide? President Ezra Taft Benson wisely said, “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.” Whether you create a worldwide television show teaching about the life of Jesus or simply offer service to someone close to you, if you do your part by aligning your will with God’s, he will amplify your efforts and help you to become the best you that you can be.
Listen to Dallas Jenkins’s address, “Five Loaves and Two Fishes,” and consider what you can learn from his failure, success, and overall growth.
Source: BYU Speeches
—Maya Burnett, Latter-day Saint Insights.
FEATURE IMAGE BY THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Find more insights
Read Sister Jean B. Bingham’s talk “United in Accomplishing God’s Work” for ideas of how we can contribute together.
Check out Brooklyn Bird’s Latter-day Saint Insights article “How 24 Hours Can Be Like 5 Loaves and 2 Fishes.”
Read or listen to “The Imperfect Harvest” by Elder Vern P. Stanfill as he reassures us that Christ makes our offering complete.