Matthew 14:13-21 Mark 6:30-44 Luke 9:10-17 John 6:1-13
There are many times in life and ministry that we make plans
that don’t turn out like we expected.
Jesus sent the disciples out on their first “solo mission” where they
went and experienced what it was like to go out and do the work of the
ministry. It was a special time in their
life and training but they were about to get a bonus lesson. There are times when we think we are done,
but God decides that we still have more that we need to learn. Our experience rarely aligns with our
expectations.
INTERRUPTION: The disciples were excited by what they had
experienced when they went out on their ministry assignment. I can imagine them all sharing stories of how
the Spirit had used them and all of their different experiences. Jesus decides to take them on a post ministry
retreat so they get in a boat and are on their way to a place of rest where
they expect to have some “down time” as they share with each other and reflect
on the things they learned in the process.
When they get to the other side of the lake, they are greeted by a
multitude of people who had figured out where they were going and got there
ahead of them. They thought they had a
few vacation days coming their way only to find that they had a very busy day
ahead of them. Working with people in
the ministry is often like that.
Funerals, illnesses and emergencies pop up on a regular basis and often
at the most inconvenient of times. There
is nothing wrong with rest and there is nothing wrong with taking some time off
to reflect. In fact, these are important
for us to schedule. We just need to
learn to be flexible with these things and understand that people cannot be
seen or treated as interruptions in our lives.
INSTRUCTION: When the disciples saw the crowds, their first instinct
was more than likely that they hoped Jesus would send them all away. Instead, Jesus has compassion on them and
begins to teach them and heal them.
There was no way He would turn His back on this multitude of people so
He went to work and, more than likely, put all of the disciples to work as
well. People desperately need
instruction from the Word of God. We are
surrounded by people who are lost, hurting and desperately in need of
help. God has been gracious enough to
reveal His Word to us so we know how life was designed by God to work. Not everyone knows what we know. He calls us to care enough and take the time
to instruct the people around us in the Word of God. Too often, we can find ourselves ignoring
those God puts in our paths or teaching them our own opinions instead of
instruction them in the Word of God. God
calls us to minister to the needs of people and to teach them how God wants
them to live life. There is truly no
greater investment than teaching the eternal Word of God to the eternal souls
of men.
INTERVENTION: Not only did the multitude of people show up
and crash the disciples spiritual retreat with Jesus, they came without any
food. As time went on the disciples were
getting restless and it seems like they were ready to say: “okay, enough is
enough.” “We have been polite and put up
with these people all afternoon but it is getting late and it’s time for these people
to go AWAY.” They know the people need
to eat because their own stomachs were likely growling. They take the problem to Jesus who tells them
that the plan is to feed this whole multitude of thousands of people. The disciples start calculating the cost of
such a meal but quickly realize that there are no stores available. They make a quick inquiry of the people to
see if a “pot luck” might work: “no such luck.”
All they come up with is 5 loaves of bread and two small fish. They take these meager resources to Jesus and
He tells them to have the people get ready to eat. He blesses the food and tells them to
distribute it and that little bit fed everyone with food to spare. God is able to intervene in the most
difficult of circumstances with the smallest of resources imaginable. He is never limited by what we have or our
weaknesses. He only calls us to trust
Him and then enjoy watching Him serve.
APPLICATION: Be flexible with our schedules and learn to
make people a priority in our lives.
Schedule and enjoy times of rest but do not allow them to become idols
in our lives. Teach the Word of God to
others and serve them with a glad heart.
Trust God to supply all of our needs and the needs of our ministries
even when it seems like the resources available are not even close to what is
needed.
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