Impossible Math

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish...” John 6:9

This gospel story reminds me of an interview of Dallas Jenkins, the director of the multi-season series “The Chosen”. In 2017, Dallas made a film “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone”. It bombed. Dallas and his wife were devastated and at their lowest point. In prayer, his wife seemed to get two messages, the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and “I do impossible math”. They couldn’t figure out what it meant. 

That night, Dallas stayed up to write a ten page memo of what they did wrong and what they could have done instead. At 2 am, a message popped up on his screen: “Remember your job is not to feed the 5000 it’s only to provide the loaves of bread and fish.” The message shocked Dallas and he asked the sender why he sent it. “I don’t know. God just told me to send you that!” 

Dallas says his life can be divided by before that moment and after that moment because it was so pivotal for him. He realized it was not his job to produce the results, just to provide the bread! He then had the opportunity to direct a short film for his church after that called The Shepherd which was about the birth of Christ but told through the eyes of shepherds. 

After the success of The Shepherd, he and his partner Derral Eves used the film to raise money for the series, “The Chosen” through crowd funding. They were able to raise a total of more than $10 million from 19,000 people! It was enough to make the first season of the series. Dallas and his wife realized what God meant when He said, “I do impossible math.” 

God can do impossible math in our life as well if we give Him our loaves and fishes. What are our gifts and talents? What are the resources we have in our hands? Give it to God for Him to multiply!