Five Loaves and Two Fishes

November 3, 2024

Five Loaves and Two Fishes

Dear Elder Yu,

I believe that you might have heard about the Christian TV series “The Chosen” before you went on your mission.

I have come across and listened to a BYU Devotional talk that just happened a few days ago, 29 October 2024 by the creator of “The Chosen” TV series, Dallas Jenkins. He talked about how to embrace failure and trust in God’s plan.

Dallas stated that earlier in his career, he aspired to Hollywood's fame and glitter, as well as to create films that were box office successes. For years, he worked on smaller independent films, but in 2017, he was given the opportunity to work with large Hollywood studios and make the type of big film he'd always desired. "I had arrived," Dallas recalled thinking.

However, when the film was released to the public, its box office performance collapsed. “Within two hours, I went from being a director with a very bright future to being a director with no future,” he said.

Dallas and his wife, Amanda, were distraught. As they sat at home in tears, Amanda was convinced that her husband should study the New Testament tale of Jesus feeding the 5,000—and she sensed God telling her, "I do impossible math."
Dallas initially assumed this indicated that the film's numbers would improve. But things grew worse. So Dallas remained up late composing a report, attempting to figure out what went wrong with the film. Then, to his complete amazement, an acquaintance sent him this message at 4 a.m.: "Remember, it is not your responsibility to feed the 5,000. It's merely to offer bread and fish."

Dallas claims the moment transformed his life.

"In that moment, I knew God was there." I knew God was watching over this. I knew God had taken me to that point of failure, and He had something in store for me. …
"I was not going to be able to solve or figure this out on my own. I still didn't understand what impossible math meant in this case because success was not on the horizon. But at that moment, all I cared about was God's will. I gave up. "Probably for the first time in my life."

Following that, Dallas created a short film about the birth of the Savior from the perspective of the shepherds. Compared to the scale of production of his previous feature, this short film "felt like a significant step-down." "It didn't even feel like five loaves and two fishes; it felt like one loaf and half a fish," Dallas tells me. On the other side, Dallas had never felt more in his element.

Dallas was inspired by this sensation to create The Chosen. However, he lacked the ability to create the visual depiction of Jesus and His followers that he envisioned.
Long story short, the short video Dallas created was spotted by Angel Studios (then known as VidAngel) in Provo, Utah. The company adored it. They were also intrigued by Dallas' idea for The Chosen and wanted to pursue it. But they intended to fund the series through crowdfunding—and Dallas was skeptical.

"Crowdfunding rarely works," he explains. But then he remembered the parable of the loaves and fishes, and he resolved to try again. "And something special happened," he explains. "I'm sitting at the computer, with my wife next to me, and we break the 10 million mark, shattering the all-time crowdfunding record by 16 thousand.

"I hear my wife sniffling, and I look over and she has tears streaming down her cheeks, saying, 'I do impossible math!'" He spoke it to her again, just as clearly as He had the previous year.

“In that moment, it was very easy to realize … this is impossible math. This is the kind of math that God’s part of, not the math equation based on numbers and interest. This is what He does: He takes the small, the broken, the surrender, and makes something out of it.”

“Whether in failure or success, the message is the same: When you make your five loaves and two fish. He does ask that of us,” he continued, “He could have just waved his hand like I am in front of you right now, and in front of thousands of people and the Loaves and fish could have appeared out of nothing.”

“But He does demand for us to participate for us to do the things that we don't necessarily need Him for so that He can do the thing that He only He can do – the miracle part, so He does involve Us in the process.”

“Isn't that so gracious of Him whether it's asking for the Five Loaves and two fish? Or whether it's telling His disciples to roll the stone away when Lazarus is raised? Or whether it's telling Moses to camp out at the edge of the Red Sea, and strike the rock, so the water would part.”

“He does ask us to participate but I'm telling you… especially whether in failure or success Five Loaves and two fish when you hand that to Him and He deems it worthy of acceptance, the transaction is over.”

“It's the Five-in-Two principle you bring what you have, you give it to God, and let it go, and when you get to that place, where you don't care about the results and you don't care about what they say.”

Dallas advised, urging the audiences (BYU students) to find peace and purpose in their efforts, regardless of the outcome.

“I implore you, starting now: Don’t wait until you’re in your 40s [like I am] for God to break you down and bring you to your knees in surrender. Starting now, get to this place — this superpower, actually — that comes from giving that up to God. It is not your job to feed the 5,000; it is only to provide the loaves and fish.”

This profoundly affected Jenkins, helping him realign his focus and trust in God’s plan. This principle, which emphasizes the importance of offering one’s best and leaving the results to God, became a guiding force in his life and work.

I know that these past weeks must have been a quite difficult situation for you to do the proselyting work due to transportation and car issues. Missionary work can be hard. And realizing that doesn’t make you a bad missionary.

When you're struggling, remember that God is on your side and that He is ready and prepared to assist you when you ask. He is always willing to listen to your heartaches and understands exactly how you feel.

Don’t be hesitant to ask for strength to manage your expectations or to control your attitude. Don’t be afraid to call down miracles for you and the work in your area. You can also reach out to your companion or leaders, who most likely have felt the same way you do at times and might know how to help you.

I feel prompted to share with you this talk because I know that you might feel a little uplifted by this talk. I know that you have offered and given to God all that you have – your Five Loaves and Two Fishes, and let God do His Maths.

Know that you are loved. And remember that Heavenly Father and the Savior are there to bear your burdens and challenges with you.

Love,
Mommy

P.S.: This is the link of the talk, it is under BYU Speeches https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jenkins/five-loaves-and-two-fishes/