Skip to main content

New Article: God Gets There First

 

               The disciples saw the problem and then Jesus made it worse. 

A huge crowd has spent the entire day in a remote area listening to Jesus preach.  As nightfall came, the disciples urged Jesus to let the people go so that they could find something to eat.  “You give them something to eat” Jesus replied.  That seemed ridiculous!  More than five thousand people had gathered to hear Jesus.  The disciples replied that giving each person even a little bread would take more than eight months' wages.  You likely know the rest of the story.  Jesus took what they had, five loaves of bread and two fish, multiplied it and fed all the people with lots left over (Mark 6:30-44).

The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).  It has been used to remind us that God can use the little we have and make it into much more than we could ever imagine.  This event teaches us that there is no problem too big for God to handle.  Those are good lessons, but there is one more that I want to highlight.

When John records this story, he tells it a little differently.  Instead of the disciples noticing that the people were hungry, John says that it was Jesus who first pointed out the problem.  John 6:5 says, “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”  The next verse provides the best lesson of all.  It says, “He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do” (verse 6).

Did you catch that?  Before the disciples realized that there was a problem, Jesus had a plan.  Before they started worrying, Jesus had the solution.  He always has a plan.  You may feel lost, but nothing about your life confuses Christ.  He has answers to the questions that we have not even asked yet. 

We always have help and hope!

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: A Path Worth Following

  Jehoram was a terrible king.  He reigned in Judah around the year 850 B.C. and he did not care about God or his people.  His first act as king was to assassinate his six brothers so that no one could challenge his authority.  He was brutal and selfish.   Therefore, when the Bible sums up his life, it says, “Jehoram… passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David” (2 Chronicles 21:20).  Did you catch that?  “To no one’s regret!”  What a terrible phrase for your tombstone. On the other hand, consider a lady named Tabitha.  She lived in the city of Joppa in the first century A.D. and we are told, “… she was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36).  She became sick and died.  This caused the community so much grief that they called Peter, who was in the nearby town of Lydda, to come and help them.  When Peter arrived, a crowd gathered, bringing all the robes and other clothing that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more