But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
Jesus told the disciples to feed a crowd of thousands…and one word polluted their response.
There is a difference in saying “We have five loaves of bread"... and saying, “We have (only) five loaves of bread”... one word moves the response from informative to argumentative.
Christ’s comment was not a question… He did not ask them to evaluate the difficulty of locating diner for 5000 people. He clearly and simply said “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
What he wanted was for them to have faith. To take their eyes of earthly restrictions and look to the power of God. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6) … and when you have it you do not look for obstacles – you look for pathways.
Faith in God means I bring what I have to Jesus… fully expecting that it is enough. Faith is not a desperate last resort – it is my first and only strategy.
Each day when I open the Word of God it contains clear commands like – fear not – love others – trust God– have peace.
Yet my tendency is to point out the problems with these orders.… How can I not fear with sickness all around?...How can I love in the middle of hate? … What peace can be found in a divided nation?
Admittedly those commands are difficult… and to ignore difficulty is irrational. A man who does not understand his own limitations is foolish…But a man who thinks God is limited is a fool.
Faith is deciding to look at God’s power – instead of my weakness… I must start each day aware that God is able. I lay what I have at His feet and expect miracles. Faith is the Christian’s nuclear weapon…it does not point out obstacles – it destroys them.
Though the crowd around you is starving for truth and it feels overwhelming – they do not need to go away – you need to feed them - bring your limited resources to Christ, stand back, and watch what He does.
Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time. – Oswald Chambers
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