Life is filled with so many small, practical matters. We develop mental checklists to manage them. If you have small children you have probably perfected this by now. There is the “out the door for shopping” checklist. Diapers, wipes, drink, distracting toys, treat. Check, check, check, check, check. We all have these types of checklists.
Shower, shave, teeth, underwear, pants, shirt, socks, shoes, car keys, gas, map, time. We all have these checklists of practical things. Many times we don’t even realize we are going through a checklist, we just do it. But these small practical matters make up the majority of our lives. Most of life is pretty boring, pretty routine, not much change.
Every pilot of every airplane must go through a preflight checklist before they dare take the plane into the air. All those switches and knobs are connected to the systems that keep the plane safe and comfortable. Despite the fantastic safety record, flying is a delicate operation. Everything must work, or the flight could be in jeopardy. So they follow along through a flipchart book, step by step, item by item. Even the most experienced pilots walk through these checklists. They are not checking themselves and their ability, they are checking the ability of the plane’s systems, something over which they have no control.
Jesus is training His disciples. He is teaching them to think ahead, to make sure they are prepared for the upcoming tasks. This ability to mentally walk into the future and brainstorm possible outcomes is important. We all need to think through second and third order effects. We do this by asking a simple question of ourselves repeatedly: What’s next? So we make a future choice and then ask the ‘what’s next’ question. We do this with multiple choices. Then we take each of the results of those questions and make the next choice, and ask the ‘what’s next’ question again.
Jesus has been teaching a crowd of people for three days and they have run out of food. They obviously can’t call the local Events Coordinator and get a meal package for the thousands. So what does Jesus do? He calls His disciples and gets them involved. I think Jesus knew all along what His next actions would be, but wanted to include His disciples. He heightens the need in them by pointing out the danger of them traveling on an empty stomach. He points it out in order to make what He is going to do stand out among the many things He has been doing.
I am sure they became a bit overwhelmed in that moment, thinking about how they could feed all these people. There is this need of food over which they have no control. Jesus want them to take ownership in order to feel their own inadequacy. He wants them to feel a little bit of pain in order to know what relief feels like.
We can’t be so focused on the moment, that we fail to plan for the future. I think this is especially true when things are not going well, when we are stressed or in some type of pain. All we can see is the immediate trouble; we can’t see the possible solutions.
Next time you face a challenge, begin to make hypothetical choices and then ask the ‘what’s next’ question. See if you can walk into the future in your mind.
The Arnold Journey 