We experience many situations in life that are a test from the Lord to evaluate our faith in God. Many people go through difficult daily circumstances and ask themselves, “From where will I get that?” or, “What am I going to do now?” God is pleased when we turn to Him, saying, “I am at the end of my resources, Father. Would You please help me?” We have an occasion in the Scriptures where Jesus put His disciples to a faith test:
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 mine).
If the Lord already had in mind what He was going to do, why did He test Philip? (v. 6). What do you think Jesus hoped to accomplish with His words? Could God be doing the same in your life?
I believe God often leads us into situations beyond our resources so that He might stretch our faith beyond our capacity. God is at work in our lives to prepare us for eternity. This life we live in this world is God's school where the Bride of Christ is trained for her role in eternity. We often cannot see the hands of the Divine Potter at work 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 permits times of testing through need and hardship to occur in our lives so that He might reveal to us where our faith lies. Do you tend to rely on any natural resource that you can devise? Do you look expectantly at parents or friends? Is it to put more on the credit card? On whom do you rely when the going gets tough? Could it be that God has allowed a test of your faith to come through your circumstances like Philip? To whom do you turn in your darkest hours?
Over the years I have served as a pastor, I have found that men are like elastic bands: they must be stretched to be effective. The greater the trial and hardship that you are enduring, to that same degree, is the level of character and gifting that God wants to establish in your life. When you look at the impossibility of something you are experiencing, does it cause you to look more closely to the Lord in 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 to Philip, who had been His disciple from the start 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 view the problem and not the solution. We can be so occupied with our difficulties, i.e., looking at the things seen rather than on the unseen things (2 Corinthians 4:18), that we can forget that our God is bigger than all our difficulties. We should see each problem as an opportunity to look to the Lord for His provision. Secondly, Phillip was more concerned 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 to the barest minimum? Can we not believe God for a more significant blessing than the bare minimum? Let's look at this some more 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.