Insufficiency

Mark 6:38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five — and two fish.”

I often feel like I don’t have what it takes to accomplish really important tasks. I am not the most educated person. I haven’t been trained in the fine nuances of philosophy and rhetoric. I am just a simply man.

But there are some people I would love to be able to effectively share the Gospel with who I feel can talk circles around me. When I look at the resources I have in my own hands, I realize I don’t stand a chance. And if I am doomed to fail, why try to enter the battle.

I know from my study of the Scriptures that this is a good place to be. It is in our weakness that His power comes. And I want His power, not my own, to shine through. But I still have to enter the arena. It is my body and mind that will be thrown to the mat.

The disciples are faced with insufficiency. There are five thousand people who need to eat and only five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus has asked them to take an inventory, and that is what they counted. Maybe enough food for ten or twenty people, if they are not too hungry. But five thousand. Impossible!

I’m pretty sure some of the disciples were questioning if the bread and fish they had would be enough, even in the hands of Jesus. Jesus had healed people, even brought people back from death. He has calmed the stormy sea. But this. I’m not so sure.

Are there some categories of need that you bar Jesus from being present and sufficient? Are there some circumstances that Jesus just can’t or won’t intervene? And who made those categories? Who defined the boundaries of those boxes?

Wind and waves. Check! Sickness & death. Check! Evil spirits inhabiting and destroying people. Check! Captivating teacher. Check! Brings forgiveness. Check! Multiplies food?

So often we remember the times that the LORD didn’t move in the way we expected. Our disappointments limit what we believe the LORD is capable of accomplishing. We remember someone’s death in the past when we pray for the LORD to intervene in the present, and we wonder if our prayers are heard.

Five loaves & two fish fed five thousand. Is anything impossible? Can we trust Him no matter what the outcome? Can we believe that He has our best in His heart, and that His will is for our best? Even in your current circumstance?