Jesus

Exercising our Faith

/ Chris Courtney / Leave a comment

It is a telling moment, one I believe to be both literal and symbolic.  Such is the importance of the event that it is the one miracle all four gospel writers recorded.  And it speaks volumes about the ability of God working through our lives.  It is the miracle of the feeding of the five-thousand, recorded in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:5-15.

Applicable lessons abound from the passages, ripe for gleaning.  For the sake of brevity, I will pluck only one for now: if we only look to our abundance – our understanding, our gifts, our treasure – we will miss out on what God wants us to do in our lives.  We need to see things as Christ does: through eyes of faith.

Let’s assess the situation in Luke, the most succinct of these four passages.  The crowd had gathered, and Jesus had taught and healed them.  They marveled. 

And they lingered.

And they needed to be fed.

As if Christ wasn’t aware that these folks may need physical nourishment at the end of a long day, the disciples tell Jesus, “Send them away!”  (I’m always taken aback at the temerity the twelve disciples so often display.  But that’s another lesson…)

How does Jesus reply?  “You feed them.”  Eventually, “feeding” the flock would be there job anyway (read John 21:15-19, which is really still another lesson altogether, but…).  Their response was predictable: “You’ve got to be kidding, right?  Five loaves and two fishes for five-thousand people.  And not a supermarket in sight.  Anyone else see a problem here?”

Jesus saw no problem at all, because He saw with eyes of faith.  All the disciples were looking at was their ability.  They were limited by what they could logically see.  But Jesus wanted to stretch their faith.  He instructed the twelve, gave thanks to the Father, which always goes hand-in-glove with faith.  (See there?  Yet another lesson.)

Faith is a stretch.  But faith is exactly what God wants from us – expects from us.  If all we ever do is rely on ourselves to get things done, we are limited.  Crippled even.  Faith is like a muscle.  It requires exercise to grow strong, even just to maintain.  Left unworked, muscle begins to atrophy.  The same is true with faith.

What’s limiting you in doing what God wants you to do?  Do you believe He would expect something you and not equip you for the task at hand?  Step out in faith with gratitude for the wonderful work God has planned for you, not concerned about results or success, but joyful that the Lord is being glorified through your faithfulness.  And many more than you can imagine just might be fed from your hand.

The Stability of Certainty

/ Chris Courtney / Leave a comment

Life is uncertain.  The news brings that fact into high relief on a daily basis (which is one reason I am personally avoiding watching the news these days, which is tough for an infojunkie like myself.  But that’s another story…)  If there is one thing people desire – crave – it is some stability in life.

Our problem is one of perception.  Our circumstances are all our reasoning minds see.  And, as faulty humans, our perception is faulty as well.  That is because, unlike God, we are not omniscient.  We only know what we know (and often what we know is wrong as well).  We can see the situation we’re in, but we can’t always see what the outcome will be.  Or, worse yet, we see a negative ending to our situations.

Let’s face it: we can’t control many (if not most) of the circumstances that come our way.  Now here comes the good news: we don’t have to be in control!  We can put our trust in God and rest secure that, no matter what comes our way, He is in control and working on our behalf, for “we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28, NLT).

We tend to look at our circumstances, rolling over the troubles in our minds as they build and build and build into a mountain of worry and despair.  The solution is a change of mind: instead of focusing on life’s uncertainties, we need to focus on God.  Let go of the doubts and fears that paralyze us and put our faith in our source of stability – God, the One Who never changes:

“Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” – James 1:17 (NLT)

Jesus promised us tribulation in our lives.  But He also gave us a solution to our malaise: “Take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NLT).  When we live by faith in God through Jesus Christ, we find our source of stability and peace in life.

Sufficiency in Service

/ Chris Courtney / Leave a comment

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” – 2 Corinthians 9:8 (ESV)

Doing nothing is easy.  We can give ourselves all sorts of reasons not to move forward.  “I could never do that.”  “I’m not good enough.”  “I just don’t see how God could use me.”

If you have been feeling that gentle nudge to serve God in some capacity, don’t let excuses stop you.  Don’t worry about how well you will do.  It is God Who provides the results, so get busy!  Plug in and go about the business God is calling you to do.  Follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  Don’t let “I can’t” be a reason for not serving the body of Christ.  It is by the grace of God that we live and serve, not by our own power. 

Be obedient to God.  If what you are doing is His will, you will find His grace there.