Friday 2 January, 2015

6 Some time after this, Jesus crossed over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. It is also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd of people followed him. They had seen the miraculous signs he had done on those who were sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside. There he sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near. 5 Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him. So he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to put Philip to the test. He already knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Eight months’ pay would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 8 Another of his disciples spoke up. It was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 9 He said, “Here is a boy with five small loaves of barley bread. He also has two small fish. But how far will that go in such a large crowd?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down. The number of men among them was about 5,000. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks. He handed out the bread to those who were seated. He gave them as much as they wanted. And he did the same with the fish. 12 When all of them had enough to eat, Jesus spoke to his disciples. “Gather the leftover pieces,” he said. “Don’t waste anything.” 13 So they gathered what was left over from the five barley loaves. They filled 12 baskets with the pieces left by those who had eaten. 14 The people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did. Then they began to say, “This must be the Prophet who is supposed to come into the world.” 15 But Jesus knew that they planned to come and force him to be their king. So he went away again to a mountain by himself.

Have you ever been like Philip and thought that whatever you have is not enough to meet the current needs? I know I have.

Sometimes it’s money, sometimes strength, energy or ideas needed to get a job done. And yet somehow when I get through to the other side I find that God has extended my resources to accomplish what needed to be done. And in the process my faith has also been expanded to help me see that He is bigger than my smallish picture of Him.

I have been following Jesus for quite a few years now and yet I am still regularly surprised by how He comes through in unexpected ways. I am still learning to not look at my circumstances through just my natural perspective but to see that He is capable of so much more that I can ask or imagine.

What an adventure to follow this God of the miraculous provision! May I never grow blasé about seeing Him work time and again beyond my expectations.

Written by Shelley Witt