It's been a few days since my last blog-- I've been brainstorming and researching for a book idea, which I may be posting a preview of sometime soon.
As I was doing my devotions today and reading through the book of Luke, I made an interesting parallel. I was reading the story of the feeding of the 5,000. Let me give you the recap: Jesus has just finished teaching 5,000 people (this only counts the men; there were more people than this if you count women and children). He ask His disciples an impossible task, "You twelve...feed those 5,000 plus people." All that was available was a little boy's lunch of 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. I can imagine the disciples were a little confused, if not also irritated at Jesus' audacity, but then something amazing happens. The little boy, probably realizing the impossibility of feeding so many people with his lunch, willingly hands it over. Then Jesus blesses it and miraculously the food keeps multiplying enough to feed EVERYONE! There were even leftovers-- enough for the disciples.
Incredible story, right? The disciples HAD to get it that there was something miraculously, supernatural about Jesus, right? You would think so...BUT there is another occasion where Jesus does the SAME miracle with 4,000 people. (Luke does record this story, but Matthew does in chapter 15.)Ironically, the disciples are baffled by Jesus' request. Really? Don't you remember the last time? Of course, Jesus does a similar miracle, multiplying seven loaves and few small fish.
Let's not be so hard on the disciples though. They aren't the only ones in Scripture to see God work incredible wonders and continue to doubt His power and His word. In the Old Testament we are told the story of God's chosen people, the Israelites. God works MANY fantastical things in the presence of the Israelites. He miraculously rescues them from Egypt, pronouncing a series of plagues on the Egyptians; then He parts the Red Sea to help them escape the pursuing Egyptian armies. He guides them in the wilderness with a "pillar of salt by day" and a "pillar of fire by night" and provides them with manna from heaven for food and water from rocks to drink. Furthermore, He gives them countless victories over enemies but still they grumble and complain about their conditions and even beg to go back to captivity in Egypt. They deny worshipping the God who has saved them and begin worshipping false idols and the pagan gods of the cultures around them. They ignore the commandments He has given them for their protection and happiness and fall into the immoral practices of the pagans. So God time after time as punishment and a wake up call allows them to fall into the hands of their enemies. He sends them prophets to point them back to the true Way but they continue to fall into a cycle of repenting and relapsing despite all God has done for them.
Like the disciples, the Israelites just didn't get it. They saw God working and knew He was the true God but they still doubted. Aren't we the same way? God is working all around us. Look at nature and you can see the hand of the Creator. We are just as stupid and stubborn and blind as the Israelites and the disciples. How often do we convince ourselves that our old sinful life is better than the wilderness that God's path sometimes leads us through, forgetting the many blessings along the way and the reality that if we stick it out there is a land of promise waiting for us? How often do we see God working and still ask "But God, how can you expect me to do this?" How often do we limit God to our weakness and understanding?
Let me leave you with this thought from Ephesians 3:20...what would happen if we fully surrendered our weaknesses, our understanding, and our will to the God "who is able to do more than we can ask or imagine"? How would we be different? How would our relationships be different? How would this world be different?
As I was doing my devotions today and reading through the book of Luke, I made an interesting parallel. I was reading the story of the feeding of the 5,000. Let me give you the recap: Jesus has just finished teaching 5,000 people (this only counts the men; there were more people than this if you count women and children). He ask His disciples an impossible task, "You twelve...feed those 5,000 plus people." All that was available was a little boy's lunch of 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. I can imagine the disciples were a little confused, if not also irritated at Jesus' audacity, but then something amazing happens. The little boy, probably realizing the impossibility of feeding so many people with his lunch, willingly hands it over. Then Jesus blesses it and miraculously the food keeps multiplying enough to feed EVERYONE! There were even leftovers-- enough for the disciples.
Incredible story, right? The disciples HAD to get it that there was something miraculously, supernatural about Jesus, right? You would think so...BUT there is another occasion where Jesus does the SAME miracle with 4,000 people. (Luke does record this story, but Matthew does in chapter 15.)Ironically, the disciples are baffled by Jesus' request. Really? Don't you remember the last time? Of course, Jesus does a similar miracle, multiplying seven loaves and few small fish.
Let's not be so hard on the disciples though. They aren't the only ones in Scripture to see God work incredible wonders and continue to doubt His power and His word. In the Old Testament we are told the story of God's chosen people, the Israelites. God works MANY fantastical things in the presence of the Israelites. He miraculously rescues them from Egypt, pronouncing a series of plagues on the Egyptians; then He parts the Red Sea to help them escape the pursuing Egyptian armies. He guides them in the wilderness with a "pillar of salt by day" and a "pillar of fire by night" and provides them with manna from heaven for food and water from rocks to drink. Furthermore, He gives them countless victories over enemies but still they grumble and complain about their conditions and even beg to go back to captivity in Egypt. They deny worshipping the God who has saved them and begin worshipping false idols and the pagan gods of the cultures around them. They ignore the commandments He has given them for their protection and happiness and fall into the immoral practices of the pagans. So God time after time as punishment and a wake up call allows them to fall into the hands of their enemies. He sends them prophets to point them back to the true Way but they continue to fall into a cycle of repenting and relapsing despite all God has done for them.
Like the disciples, the Israelites just didn't get it. They saw God working and knew He was the true God but they still doubted. Aren't we the same way? God is working all around us. Look at nature and you can see the hand of the Creator. We are just as stupid and stubborn and blind as the Israelites and the disciples. How often do we convince ourselves that our old sinful life is better than the wilderness that God's path sometimes leads us through, forgetting the many blessings along the way and the reality that if we stick it out there is a land of promise waiting for us? How often do we see God working and still ask "But God, how can you expect me to do this?" How often do we limit God to our weakness and understanding?
Let me leave you with this thought from Ephesians 3:20...what would happen if we fully surrendered our weaknesses, our understanding, and our will to the God "who is able to do more than we can ask or imagine"? How would we be different? How would our relationships be different? How would this world be different?
Comments
Post a Comment