Our family has been in what
I am calling a tornado lately.
Seriously. Things have just been
spinning out of control- some good things, some bad things. But the point is- A LOT of things.
Over the last three months, so much has come
up that could have been absolutely devastating to our family. But in the end, God has calmed the storms. And today we carry on.
Seems like when I look
around, so many others I know are going through similar times. I have friends battling various illnesses,
friends grieving the loss of loved ones, friends going through divorce and/or
serious marriage crises, friends who have lost employment, friends who are ‘losing’
their children as their nest empties, etc., etc. Bottom line is pain is all around.
No matter what we do, life’s
struggles are sure to find us at various places in life. I mean, isn’t our entire purpose- why we are
here- to become more like Christ? After
all, the point of living here on earth is not to accumulate toys and enjoy
fancy living. The point is to learn to
live like Jesus. And frankly, the only
way we can do that is to endure some hardship.
Like it or not, if you really think back to events in your life that
have drawn you closer to God and made you kinder, gentler, more empathetic to
others, and all around more grateful, chances are those events involved some
struggle and discomfort and maybe even downright excruciating pain.
The other day, I was feeling
completely overwhelmed. I decided to
cry. It makes me feel better. Anyway, as I was crying on the floor, I heard
myself say to God, “all I have is 2 fish.
I need you to provide the rest.”
All I have is 2 fish.
What a beautiful story we
can read in each of the four gospels in our bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John). Most of us know the basic story
if we grew up going to church. However,
perhaps you think the point was really just the miracle of what Jesus can do
with fish and bread.
But the point goes far
beyond feeding people.
It is very important to note
in each of these accounts, Jesus tells the disciples to feed the people. Read back just prior to this and see where he
had just enabled these disciples to heal and to drive out demons themselves. And now he is telling them to feed thousands
of people—in a remote location where the only food available is two fish and five
loaves of bread.
Imagine how they must have
felt. I can just see the “deer in the
headlights” look on their faces. Do you
think they doubted whether or not they could do it? Do you think it even dawned on them that
Jesus would not tell them to do something that was impossible?
Read what the accounts say
(all from NIV):
Luke 9:13- 14:
He replied, “You
give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread
and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.”14 (About five thousand men were there.)
Mark 6:37
But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They
said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages[e]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread
and give it to them to eat?”
Matthew 14: 16-17
Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give
them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two
fish,” they answered.
John 6: 5-9
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?” He asked this only to test
him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him,
“It would take more than half a year’s wages[a] to
buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley
loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
When I read these accounts,
I hear God saying this to me: “Amanda, if I tell you to do
something, I will enable you to do it.
By yourself, you do not have what it takes. But lucky for you, I do. So just do your best and give me what you’ve
got. And I will handle it from there.”
Indeed there will be times
when we are in pain and struggling.
There will be times when we are overwhelmed. And when we are, we must be intentional about
determining that we are following Christ.
We must put our faith in His abilities and not our own.
All we can do is give Him what we’ve got and
wait on Him to complete the task.
Waiting is hard. But God fights our battles if we invite him
to do so. And he has never lost one yet.
Here's a song for you to soak in!
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