The Knee Jerk

" 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, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” -Luke 9:13-14

Ever had a "knee-jerk" response to something? Of course you have. You're human. In the story line which this snippet of Scripture is taken ....the disciples "assumed" a whole lot in just a few short moments. Jesuse said to them... "You give them something to eat.". The disciples minds raced as they...

a. focussed on what they did not have. I see the here and the now. Logic and common sense tell me ...I either "have" something or I do not. There is only black & white. This is a humanistic viewpoint. I can't make stuff appear out of thin air. And I believe that is absolutely true and correct thinking ...but God can! Whether or not He chooses to depends on whether or not a circumstance aligns with fulfilling His own purpose. I don't need to take it personally when God doesn't move as I would have Him to... because, frankly, I usually desire that God move in a way that benefits, mostly, "me".

b. The disciples rushed to conclusions as they "assumed" what they were to do. "Well obviously, Jesus, you expect us to go buy the food ourselves; seeing that manna isn't falling from Heaven ....and I bet these folks don't think much of manna anyway." Once again, thoughts must have come back to the disciples "themselves" and what they did or did not have. Fine, they must've thought... they could go buy food, but that costs money, which they surely did not have enough of to feed 5,000 people (forget having seconds). But Jesus didn't expect this at all. He knew what He intended to do, and He simply expected his closely-knit little group to trust Him and be obedient. And here's the kicker ...what He had in mind was bigger and better anyway!!

When faced with questions of what we are to do ...what if we begin to practice "asking" the Provider? This means... "asking", and then "waiting" for Him to make it clear. I don't believe we are meant to race ahead and throw a bunch of other ingredients in the soup. Realizing, and admitting, that "we do not have it" is step 1 in trusting Christ. The next step? .....trusting Him.