John 6:6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do
Having problems today? Are you doing anything that matters? If you are doing anything that matters, you are certainly having problems, and you are having problems you wouldn’t have if you weren’t doing what matters. For instance, we are beginning our summer season at the Bill Rice Ranch. It is an intense time as we prepare for camp. There are a lot of people learning to do a lot of things and to gel as a team. We are doing quite well, but there are all kinds of problems we have had that we would not have had if we just stayed home and ate ice cream. We have problems because we are doing something that matters.
Now, if there are no problems, there is no prayer. If there is no prayer, then you are leaving God out of your life. Someone has said, “Prayer is never natural until it is necessary.” We want to pray because we are spiritual, disciplined, or whatever, but prayer ought to be the natural response of anyone who has any sense in knowing his own need and God’s provision.
God has no problems. As one song says, “God has no problems, only plans. God has no problems, only tests.” Maybe today you have problems. The Lord allows problems in order to give provision. In John 6 there was a great multitude that followed Jesus because they saw miracles and were intrigued. The Bible says that later a great company came to Him and were hungry. He said to Philip His disciple, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”
Jesus was not asking the question because He did not know the answer; He was asking the question because He wanted Philip to think about the answer. If you were in the presence of God the Son and needed to feed five thousand men plus their families, how would you provide for them? Would that even be a thought? Apparently, it was because they didn’t know how they were going to provide for this multitude even though God the Son was in their presence.
Verse 6 says, “And this Jesus said to prove him [Philip]: for he himself knew what he would do.” In other words, Jesus knew what He was going to do. He was asking this question to test Philip. Sometimes God allows problems in order to give provision. First, it is His nature. Matthew 15:32 talks about a similar circumstance in which Jesus was being followed by more than four thousand men, and Jesus said, “I will not send them away fasting.” I love that. It is God’s nature.
When you go to church on Sunday, it is not God’s nature to send you away fasting. Someone says, “I’m not getting much out of the preaching or singing anymore.” I think all of us have those dry times in our lives, but that is not God’s fault or design. God will not send you away fasting. That is the point and premise of this story in John 6.
Verse 2 says the multitude followed Jesus because they saw His miracles. Then, in verse 14, after Jesus fed this great multitude of people, they said, “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.” John included this story to point to the nature of the infinite God as embodied by God the Son. So, God allows problems in order to give provision. It is His nature.
Notice His method. You learn here that you get what you give. In verse 9, the disciples said about the food they had to give to this crowd, “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” The answer is that in their hands, it is just five loaves and two fish, but in Jesus’ hands it is a feast for five thousand.
Notice the method that Jesus has here. Verse 11 says, “And Jesus took the loaves and…given thanks…he distributed to the disciples.” He multiplied what meager food the disciples had, then gave it back to the disciples so they could disperse it to the crowd. In other words, it is the Lord’s method to take what we give and to multiply it. The Lord allows problems, not because He finds joy in dismay, but in order to give provision. That is His nature. He will not send us away fasting. His method is to take what we have and multiply it.
Notice His power. Verse 12 says, “When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” Jesus was not going to waste even this miraculous provision. He took, gave thanks, multiplied, then they gathered up the leftovers. Verse 13 says, “Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelves baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above them that had eaten.” Amazing! His power is infinite!
In Numbers 11, back when a different crowd, the children of Israel, was in the wilderness, the question was also asked, “Where are we going to get food to eat?” The Lord’s answer was, “Is the LORD’s hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.” God multiplied food in the wilderness back in Moses’ day and multiplied food in this place in this day. Never make your calculations without figuring God in. Do you have enough? No. Does God have enough? Yes. I don’t know everything, but God does. I don’t have everything, but God does. The Lord allows problems in order to give provision. It is His nature, provision, and power. We should look to Him.