God Tests the Faith of Those Who Belong to Him.

We face many situations in life that serve as tests from the Lord to assess our faith in God. Many people encounter challenging daily circumstances and wonder, “From where will I get that?” or “What am I going to do now?” God is pleased when we turn to Him, saying, "Father, I am at the end of my resources. Would You please help me?” We see an example in the Scriptures where Jesus tested His disciples' faith:

⁵When 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?" ⁶He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. ⁷Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" ⁸Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, ⁹"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" (John 6:5-9; emphasis added).

If the Lord already knew what He would do, why did He test Philip? (v. 6). What do you think Jesus hoped to achieve with His words? Could God be doing the same in your life?

This writer believes that God often leads us into situations beyond our resources so that He can stretch our faith beyond what we can handle. God is working in our lives to prepare us for eternity. Life on Earth is God's classroom where the Bride of Christ is being trained for her role in eternity, but we often cannot see the hands of the Divine Potter shaping us for our eternal purpose. Alexander Maclaren once said:

“It is often our (God-given) duty to attempt tasks to which we are conspicuously inadequate, in the confidence that He who gives them has laid them on us to drive us to Himself and there to find sufficiency. The best preparation of His servants for their work in the world is the discovery that their stores are small.”^[1]

The Lord allows times of testing through hardship and needs to reveal where our faith truly is. Do you tend to depend on any natural resource you can think of? Do you look expectantly to parents or friends? Should we put more on the credit card? When times get tough, whom do you rely on? Could God have permitted a trial of your faith to come through your circumstances like Philip? Who do you turn to in your darkest hours?

Over the years I have served as a pastor, I have found that people are like elastic bands: they need to be stretched to become effective. The greater the trial and hardship you are facing, the more character and gifting God wants to develop in your life. When faced with what seems impossible, does it cause you to turn more attentively to the Lord with higher expectation and prayer for His help? Can you say with the Apostle Paul, “My God shall supply all your need…”? (Philippians 4:19).

Two disciples took the test that day. Jesus directed His words toward Philip, who had been His disciple from the beginning of His ministry. Philip failed the test in three ways. First, he had seen most, if not all, of Jesus’ miracles, but his response was to focus on the problem rather than the solution. We can become so preoccupied with our difficulties—i.e., looking at the things seen rather than the unseen things (2 Corinthians 4:18)—that we forget that our God is bigger than all our troubles. We should see each problem as an opportunity to turn to the Lord for His provision. Second, Philip was more worried about the odds against them than for them. He said that an ordinary man working for eight months could not have enough money for each person to have a bite (v. 7).

Thirdly, notice that Philip tended to think about the bare minimum as if the Lord would provide just a mouthful for each person! (v. 7). Would it glorify God to feed the poor and hungry only the barest amount? Can we not believe God for a more generous blessing than the bare minimum? To keep these reflections to a three-minute read, let's explore this further tomorrow. Keith Thomas

This meditation is a shortened version of the in-depth study: Jesus Feeds Five Thousand.

^[1] R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word Series, Luke Volume One, Printed by Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois, Page 332.