Enough...

I was reading "My Utmost" again this morning and I learned something - I hate it when that happens. Oswald said, "We must never put our dreams of success as God's purpose for us; His purpose may be exactly the opposite." That flies in the face of my individualistic, goal-centered American upbringing! All too often I am focused on what is God's vision for my life, and even more so focused on what I want for my life.

What does God want? Obedience to him, utter and complete obedience in every way. What do we want? Obedience from God, that he would bend and bow to our every whim and fancy. For further reading, see Galatians 5:17.

After finishing my reading, I went "above and beyond" and read the Scripture passage that Oswald referenced. He referred to Mark 6:45-52. This passage talks about Jesus walking on water after feeding the 5,000. I went on to read the feeding of the 5000 segment, and was struck by something. (I learned two things in one day, I *really* hate that.) The people were and it was late in the day, so the disciples wanted to do the sensible thing - send them away to search for food. Jesus on the other hand, did not like that answer. He told them they should give them something to eat.

I'm a fan of sarcasm. At times it gets me in trouble, but when I see it I can appreciate it because it exposes a nastiness inside of me that gives me further proof that I need God. And yes, I do from time to time need proof. The disciples were being a bit sarcastic (in my opinion) when they responded: "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?" Since two hundred denarii was equivalent to about eight months wages, I don't think this was a serious proposition.

Christ responded by asking them how many loaves they had. The grand total was five (and two fish). You all know the end of the story - Christ divided the people in groups, and began to feed them. Everyone was fed, with leftovers to spare. "They all ate and were satisfied."

Here is what I learned and some thoughts/reflections on this lesson:

We have physical and spiritual needs.
God is aware of these needs and desires to provide for us. In this story, Jesus took care of the spiritual needs first, but did not neglect the practical physical needs of the people.

God provides exactly what we need for any given situation.
There are many references to this in the bible. Daily he provided manna from heaven for the Israelites. In James he tells us that no temptation in front of us is greater than what we can withstand. Paul talked about being content and satisfied in all circumstances. The examples are too numerous to list them all.

Sometimes, God doesn't provide all the earthly means to satisfy, so he might be glorified.
Imagine if the disciples had prepared food for everyone, or had exceeding wealth in order to buy the bread. This miracle would not have happened, God would not have been glorified, and many would not have come to truly know him. Imagine the murmurs in the crowd that day, as they were being divided into groups. I'm sure rumors were floating through the crowd like "they only have five loaves, how will they feed us all?" or "Who is this madman that thinks he can provide for us all with such little food?" even possibly "I'll never be fed, he'll run out before it's my turn."

How many times do we ask these same questions in our own lives? We look at our budget and think there's never enough money for it all. The same goes for the size of our house, condition of our car (or lack thereof), etc, etc. Perhaps you are in a mission or non-profit, wondering how all the services will be provided. Maybe you get angry with God for not providing, wondering why he sent you, wondering if you failed.

None of this is true! God has called you to be right where you are. He provides you with just enough for each day. Think of the manna from heaven - the Israelites received just enough for that day, every day (with the exception of the Sabbath when they received enough the previous day.) Remain obedient to God. Each day wake up and proclaim your obedience to him, then live it out! Look to him (See: Col. 3:1-2; Matt. 6:25-34; Exodus 16:14-35).