Changing from “I Can’t” to “God Can”
Posted by Sandy in Confidence in God, Faith, God's power, Trusting God, tags: Mark“How many loaves of bread do you have?” [Jesus] asked.
Mark 8:5 (NIV)
One of Jesus’ primary teaching methods was to ask his disciples questions. In this story, Jesus has pointed out to the disciples that the crowd that has been following Him needs food. The New Living Translation records the disciples’ response like this:
“How are we supposed to find enough food for them here in the wilderness?” his disciples asked.
Mark 8:4 (NLT)
Can you hear their attitude? “What? Are you crazy?” That’s what I hear them thinking. Possibly, though, they’re more defeated than that. “There’s no way we can…” “We could never…” Have you ever heard those voices in your head? I have. Have you ever heard those words come out of your mouth. Uhh…yeah.
Both perspectives provide a wonderful teaching moment for Jesus. He simply looked at the disciples and said “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus didn’t scold them or condemn them in any way. He simply redirected their thinking from “We can’t” to “Give it to God and He can.”
There are many lessons in this Biblical story and I’ll blog more about them next week, but today’s lesson is simple – when you are lacking something important to do what God has asked you to do – whether it’s food to feed your family or food to feed the homeless in your neighborhood – when you feel in need – turn away from “I can’t,” look into the face of Jesus and say “Here are my seven loaves of bread, Lord. I can’t do much with them, but You can. I’ll give them to you. Use them for Your glory!”
Then stand back and watch the miracle!
It’s a simple question that Jesus asks: “What do you have?”
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