Little Portions and Big Needs

John 6: 5 - 9, Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, "two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little." One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?" NKJV

If you read the four verses preceding today's passages, you will discover that this multitude was drawn to Jesus because of the mighty miracles that He had previously performed. I understand the curiosity of the crowd. Nevertheless, did you notice how limited the mindsets of Jesus' disciples seemed to be that day? The disciples had been present when Jesus healed many people of all manner of sickness and disease. However, when it came to feeding the multitude, they never considered that Jesus' power was also able to take care of this need.

The scripture tells us that Jesus asked Phillip the question about taking care of feeding the people as a test. He wanted to see if Phillip would trust in Him to provide, or if he would lean on his own understanding. Unfortunately, His disciples chose through unbelief to be limited to only what they could see and could reason in their minds, in spite of being in the presence of Jesus and knowing all that He had done for the sick.

You might tend to think that after seeing all the miracles that Jesus performed, the disciples would have arrived at a place of faith in their own lives. Nevertheless, we see this wasn't the case. How long does it take before a believer can begin to trust in the faithfulness of God's goodness? How many miracles do we have to see performed in our own lives before we realize that God will take care of us? It's sad, but at the same time amazing, how the disciples could doubt Jesus' authority and love for them after being witnesses of all that He did for countless people. In each test of their faith, it was as though Jesus had to reaffirm to them that He was the Son of God and that their needs would be provided by Him.

Why do you suppose the disciples didn't go from one level of faith to another each time they witnessed Jesus perform another miracle in front of their eyes? There's just one reason that I can think of that would explain why Jesus constantly had to prove Himself to them. Even though they saw miracles that only God could do, they refused to place faith in Jesus as the Son of God. In chapter 11, Daniel tells us that those who know their God shall be strong and do great exploits (or miracles). Even so, these men were consistently weak in their faith when it was tried. Their weakness tells me that they doubted Jesus' spiritual identity, and were, therefore, controlled by unbelief.  

There comes a time in every believer's walk with Jesus when they have to take the plunge and place ALL of their trust in His love and faithfulness. Whenever we come to this place in our lives, we will stop asking God to prove Himself and His love for us because of doubt and unbelief. Let's face it; trust is hard to develop. Nevertheless, if we want God to save us, then we must place our complete trust in Him. After all, wasn't it God who saw to it that our salvation was provided for even while we were still in our sin? Absolutely!

If you haven't taken the plunge and stepped out in faith, then I encourage you to do so today. Just take God at His Word and obey His Holy Spirit, and you will find that He will be with you the entire way. I have noticed that new situations and adversity always seem bigger than my faith. However, I know they're not greater than my God. Consequently, I allow my faith in what I know about my God to be stretched so that I can overcome the adverse situations. In other words, I'm growing in my faith... just like you.

Walking With Jesus by Faith,
Pastor Asa Dockery