Luke 9:13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
Let Your Faith Reflect God’s Character
In life today, your faith will largely be a result of your focus. Think about Jesus’ disciples and the way He provided for a multitude of hungry people. Luke 9:10-11 says, “…And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place…” And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.”
Now Jesus needed to get away, but these people had needs and Jesus was willing to meet them. Their primary need was the message He had, and not the food He could give. But because of their location and the time of day, they quickly had a secondary need for food.
Verse 12 says, “And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may…get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.” In short, they were in the wrong place with the wrong crowd at the wrong time of day.
“But he said unto them, Give unto them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.” That word, “except,” is the word that defines the faith the disciples had at that moment. In their minds, there was only one way that Jesus could answer the need. They felt compelled to send the people away to town.
Jesus could have sent them to town, and perhaps He had done this on previous occasions that are not recorded in Scripture. We do know that the disciples had seen Jesus provide over and again, but they still doubted because they were hard of heart and hard of hearing. Their faith was limited to their perceptions.
They seemed to perceive that Jesus willingness and power were both limited. Anytime Jesus wills to feed a multitude, He is willing to provide what is needed to do it. The day was wearing away in this desert place, and they just could not conceive of Jesus providing in any other way than the one they had assumed He would. They certainly did not seem to anticipate Jesus’ miracle provision on that day. The Lord Jesus is the Great Provider whether the means by which He provides seem to us to be natural or supernatural.
I don’t know what your need is today, but I do know that the kind of faith you have is going to be determined by the kind of focus you have. Whatever the need or obstacle, let your faith be a reflection of the character of Christ and not of the possibilities you perceive around you.