From what I gathered, the former pastor had recently passed away, and in his place was a visiting minister. He asked us to open our bibles to John 6. I was so disappointed because I was eagerly searching for an answer this very weekend and couldn’t see how these highly familiar passages of fish and bread would help me with the answer. But that is the wonder of the Bible. It is a fresh Word from the Lord repeatedly.
He began his sermon with his end point, “If God has commanded you to do something, he’s already provided the means to do it.”
From the start, Jesus turned to Philip, a loyal disciple, and asked a straightforward question.
“5 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?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Jesus never asks because he needs the information, He always ask for our benefit. With Philips's intimate knowledge of all the miracles, we might expect him to say, “Lord, it is through you these men will be fed.” It is also interesting that Jesus never said how will we pay for the bread, only where should we purchase it. This again emphasizes He knew where the provision rested. Philip answers instead, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” I could feel Philip’s stress rising and radiating out of the scripture, thinking about the number of people to feed, the cost, the dollar amount in their funds, and disappointing people. Immediately, even though Philip saw all the miracles, including the water turning to wine, he erred. He turns to money and the abilities of men to meet the problem instead of seeing His Lord in all His power before him. Philip's vision was one of panic and scarcity, not fulfillment. The statement hit me like a ton of bricks. Indeed, I had heard this before, but on this day, someone might as well have slapped it on my forehead. Philip was trying to skip ahead and focus on what he felt he could control or have answers for. He wasn’t answering the right question, the who, and was only trying to find the answer of how! Looking ahead to the how before we have established the Who can become chaotic and downright terrifying.
We tend to think of the worst-case scenario of how much it will cost us (starving, tattered in rags, homeless, time strain) rather than abundance, as the verse states in Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
Why is that? Do we not sing of God’s wondrous works, kindness, and love for us? Have we failed to read the stories of all the nobodies who were somebodies because of God? If we’ve read all these things, do we believe it? The problem always lies with us, never God. He is ready to take the steps with us, but we are holding on to the railing for dear life. We are a lot like the man in Mark who cried out, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Matthew Henry states, “We are inclined to distrust God's power when visible and ordinary means fail, that is, to trust him no further than we can see him.”
Interestingly enough, Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” They were in the desert, yet in this particular place grass was abundant for them to rest, which could be considered provision one. When Jesus asked them to sit, there was nothing to feed them. The miracle had not yet been performed, but they were positioning themselves for provision by sitting in obedience. Maybe our problem is that we don’t position ourselves often enough to sit back and watch the Lord deliver. What if we just stepped out in faith? What if we found the courage to say, Lord, I’m here. George Muller was a man of great faith. One of his miracles reminded me so much of the fish and loaves. This recounts just one of the hundreds of miracles he experienced.
“The children are dressed and ready for school. But there is no food for them to eat,” the housemother of the orphanage informed George Mueller. George asked her to take the 300 children into the dining room and have them sit at the tables. He thanked God for the food and waited. George knew God would provide food for the children as he always did. Within minutes, a baker knocked on the door. “Mr. Mueller,” he said, “last night I could not sleep. Somehow, I knew that you would need bread this morning. I got up and baked three batches for you. I will bring it in.” Soon, there was another knock at the door. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. The milk would spoil by the time the wheel was fixed. He asked George if he could use some free milk. George smiled as the milkman brought in ten large cans of milk. It was just enough for the 300 thirsty children."
What if we had the faith and courage to sit at the table and watch the Lord provide?