Scripture
“As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, ʻThis is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.' ” (Matthew 14:15)
Observation
Have you ever felt like the easiest way to fix a difficult situation, or to get over a frustrating relationship, or to deal with some needy people was to just get rid of them? Maybe you were just tired of dealing with it, or maybe you felt like you didn’t have the ability to do anything about it, so you just sent them away and hoped they could figure things out on their own. I, surely, can’t be the only one! I wonder…I wonder if God actually placed them before us because He wanted us to help, to fix, and to encourage. I wonder if He wants us to actually make a difference. This came to mind as I read John 14.
A crowd gathered around Jesus as they sought His presence, His words, and His healing touch. Jesus saw their need, had compassion on them, and began healing their sicknesses, but before long, dinner time rolled around and this spiritual hunger became a deep physical hunger. So the disciples found themselves before thousands of hungry people, and their solution was to send them home so they could figure things out on their own. Jesus saw the need, had compassion, and met the needs. The disciples saw the need, had no compassion, and sought to send them home hungry. Jesus then directs the disciples saying, “You give them something to eat” to which they basically replied, but we don’t have anything. In essence, we can’t fix this issue, we can’t do anything about it, we can’t make a difference, so just send them away. But Jesus would take the little they did have, the 5 loaves and 2 fish, and would meet the needs of the multitude far beyond what anyone imagined.
Application
I wonder how often we’ve felt like we didn’t have anything to offer, like we didn’t have “enough”- enough abilities, enough talent, enough smarts, enough money, enough gifting to meet the needs of those around us. Yet, God says…just give me what you have, surrender what is already in your hands to me and the needs will be met far beyond what you could imagine. Again, I wonder if God actually places us in difficult situation, or around frustrating relationships, or near needy people because He actually wants us to make a difference. I wonder how often we’ve sent people away, or ran away, when God wanted to use us to meet some needs. May we be people that see, that have compassion, and that surrender what we have to our miracle making God!
Prayer
Jesus, please forgive me for my selfish perspective that would want to send people away to figure things out on their own. Please forgive me for every time I didn’t want to help, to fix, to encourage, to love, to meet the needs of the people You placed before me. Help me to seize these opportunities for Your glory. Help me to be quick to surrender whatever I have that You might meet needs, encourage the multitudes and love Your people through me. In Your name, Amen!
