“But Jesus said, ‘You feed them.’
‘With what?’ they asked. ‘We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!’
‘How much bread do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and find out.’
They came back and reported, ‘We have five loaves of bread and two fish.’ ” (Mark 6:37-38)
Problem: Lots of people; no food. Solution: Send the people off to buy food before it gets too late. At least, that was the perfectly reasonable plan the disciples came up with. Then in today’s verses, Jesus said, “No, I want you to serve them by doing the impossible.”
The disciples were tired, hungry, and under-funded. They got stuck on the impossible part: “We don’t have the resources.” Jesus rejected that answer just as quickly as he rejected their plan: “Count what you do have.”
Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. God has nixed your Plan A (and your Plan B) – either through your circumstances or an authority in your life or the weather – but he still expects you to follow his plan. And it feels impossible. And you clearly don’t have the resources.
You have a choice: Give up or expect God to use what you’ve got to do the impossible.
Think: How often do you feel like it would be impossible to do what God wants you to do? Do you tend to give up or jump in even though you don’t have a good plan to make it work? How does that usually turn out?
Pray: Ask God to help you to trust him to provide everything you need to do what he wants you to do – even when you can’t see, yet, how it will all work out.
Do: Ask another believer in Jesus if they’ve ever seen God provide a solution in an impossible situation.