Committed to Serve
What would you do if you suddenly had to serve thousands?
Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere. Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. Herod said, “John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he tried to see him. On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured. The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” They did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. - Luke 9:1-17
Luke gives us an interesting juxtaposition of challenges here.
First, the apostles are sent out with nothing and they manage to obtain food and lodging wherever they went, and in return cured diseases.
Second, the very same apostles are faced with a challenge of feeding all who came to see and hear Jesus and they are ready to give up.
Why? Have they forgotten what they just accomplished in His name?
They people fed them, and now it is their turn to feed the people. Why wouldn't they think it possible to do that?
Sometimes, the more we know or think we know, the less we challenge ourselves. If we think about it too much, we see all the reasons our attempt will fail, so we fail to attempt it.
Jesus taught them and us to have faith. Do, and be amazed. Accept the challenge and let God guide you.
And he showed them there is a way to break down the challenge into a bunch of smaller challenges, when he had them seat the crowd in groups of fifty, rather than deal with the whole group as one.
As they set out to serve each group, more and more resources became available, until in the end, they had much left over.
This is how we need to approach our challenges in life. First, believe it is possible to make a difference. Then break down the problem into manageable chunks. Finally, rely on God's help.
When all is said and done, there will be an abundance left over.
More to come...