You give
them something to eat” (Mark 6:37). It’s easy to miss those words from Jesus. A huge
crowd had gathered to hear Him. Late in the day, the disciples got nervous and
started pressing Him to send them away (v.36). “You give them something to
eat,” Jesus replied (v.37).
Why would
He say that? John 6:6
says He was testing them. Did He want to see if they would trust Him to perform
a miracle? Maybe, but it seems more likely He wanted His disciples involved in
caring for the crowd, to be hands-on in working with and for Him. He then
blessed what they brought to Him—five loaves of bread and two fish—and
performed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000.
I think
Jesus uses those words with us too. A need pre-sents itself in the lives of
those around us, and we bring it to Jesus in prayer. “You do something,” Jesus
often says. “But, Lord,” we object, “we don’t have enough time or money or
energy.” We’re wrong, of course. When Jesus asks us to get involved, He already
knows how He will accomplish His work through us.
What we
need is faith and vision—the ability to see that God wants us to be His
instruments, and that He will supply what we need.
When God says do it, He’s already planned the resources we need to accomplish the task. (RBC)
