Miracle of the loaves and fishes

The Savior provided two similar miracles.  As a summary of what took place, complete the following chart:

	Matthew 14:14-21	Matthew 15:32-38
How many people were present?	5,000 men, plus women, children, the apostles, and Jesus	4,000, plus the women, children, apostles, and Jesus
What did they need?	Food	To eat
What were they able to offer in an effort to meet the need?	Five loaves of bread and two fishes	Seven loaves and a few small fishes
What words or phrases describe the Savior’s feeling toward the multitude in their time of need?	Compassion and he healed their sick	Compassion and concern
What words or phrases describe what the Savior was able to provide for the multitudes?	He fed them, despite the desert terrains	He filled their bellies.

In each story, the available food was insufficient to feed the multitude, yet with the help of the Lord, the insufficiency was overcome.  Read Romans 3:23 and explain in writing another way human effort is insufficient in receiving the Glory of God.  According to Ether 12:27, how does the Lord help us overcome this insufficiency?  We’re human and therefore flawed.  Our sins make us imperfect.  We cannot receive the glory of God without a Savior to plead for us and atone for our sins.  In Ether, we see that the Lord gives us weaknesses to make us humble and his grace is sufficient for us.  If we are humble, we are able to have the faith required to become strong and overcome weaknesses and sin.

*I'm grateful for a loving Father who does give us trials and weaknesses so that we may turn to him to learn from him.  I know that he did the miracles that we read about in the scriptures and that those miracles still continue to be seen today.  He is able to be a constant influence in our lives, if we will just let him.  Embrace the grace of his Son and the Atonement.  They can make our shortcomings sufficient.