More thoughts to chew on...

Afternoon, y'all ::


Apparantly, someone is trying to get a message to me.  Yesterday, I had several events come together (actually, collide might be a better word!) that gave me some insight on a quote from Mother Teresa:

"I know that God won't give me more trouble than I can handle...
but sometimes I wish he wouldn't trust me so much."

So, I did a little typing, and came up with yesterday's blog posting, focusing on how God never gives you more than you can handle, and when you think he does, a few ways to find out that you have more than just your plate at the buffet line.


Pulling into church this morning, I saw on the marquee the sermon text for this morning's message.  Immediately, I could tell that we'd be hearing about Jesus and the feeding of the 5000. (For those who'd like a refresher on the story, head here to BibleGateway.com and read up.)  Aside from the Resurrection, it's one of the few (if not the only) miracle performed by Jesus that appears in all four gospels (others may appear in one or two, but rarely in all four.)


The focus on the sermon wasn't on how God takes care of us, and provides our needs, exactly.  The disciples get it wrong at the outset, just like we do from time to time.  "There's no way I can do it.  It's only me.  I'm not enough." Note the words in bold -- they focus in on me.  Head back to yesterday's blog posting, more specifically, the second tactic on how to keep your plate from getting too full:

2.  Get a second plate.
If "many hands make light work," having a "wing man" help out in carrying a drink or (if you really, really trust her) your dessert can be invaluable.  Even better, getting a helping hand in carrying a second plate full of food the two of you can share is worth the food's weight in gold.  So, if you need some help in handling what life is scooping on your plate, go to a trusted friend or advisor, and get some help!  Of course, turning to God and asking for a little help is a great start.  But don't forget those friendships and fellowships that you've been blessed to be a part of.

The right answer was hidden in that one line: Give Jesus what you have, and let Him deal with the solution.  In this parable, God's purpose wasn't to feed people with fish and bread.  He looks for opportunites to test our faith.  In this context, "test" doesn't mean to prove, but more to strengthen and temper.  From Hebrews 11:6 (Message paraphrase)

It's impossible to please God apart from faith.  And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that He exists and that He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him.

Hudson Taylor said, "Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith." We have to go beyond knowing.  If you look at any ancient map of the seas, there'd be a point where no explorer had gone yet.  There, a phrase that would often be written would be "Beyond this point there be dragons."  It's also where our knowledge and understanding ends and where our faith in God lies.  We have to go beyond knowing how much we can do by ourselves, because God never intends for us to go solo on this!  God does give us more than we can handle, but He never gives us more than the two of us (God and I) can't handle.  God doesn't ask us to do anything that He's not ready to help us out with.  In the Feeding of the 5000, Jesus asked His disciples to be HIS PARTNERS in ministry.  Today, He asks us to partner with him in doing great and (seemingly) impossible things!


If you're interested in hearing the sermon, head right here to download an audio version of the sermon.  If you'd like some notes to fill in, head here.


Take care! :: Greg