YOU FEED THEM
10th Oct 2018
Do you find yourself feeling that Jesus was rather unfair when He challenged his disciples to feed 5000 people without giving them any idea of the miracle that He was about to perform?
Luke 9:13 in The Message says, “You feed them,” Jesus said. They said “We couldn’t scape up more than five loves of bread and a couple of fish…..” What was Jesus trying to do? I believe He was teaching the disciples an important principle. He was showing them that human answers are never enough to solve life’s problems, but also teaching them that when we give what we have, it is multiplied in the hands of the Master.
I was taking a Leaders’ Seminar in Germany. I was to speak at the evening session and had set aside time to prepare. However, that time slot was swallowed up in an unexpected need to pray with a pastor who was in great distress. As we drove to the meeting Joyce asked me, “Do you know what you are teaching tonight?” “I haven’t a clue”, was my reply. I was feeling desperate, when God spoke into my heart, “Turn to John’s gospel and I will tell you what to say.”
During my message, I spoke strongly on John 4:46-54 where Jesus healed the nobleman’s son by simply saying, “Your son will live.” As we began to pray with people, a lady came to Joyce and said, “That is my situation exactly, my 3 year old girl is profoundly deaf, can God heal her?” Joyce said, “Yes, you heard what Charles said, that’s God’s word for you.” She was almost too afraid to believe, so Joyce said, “Just pray in tongues all the way home.” Still praying out loud she roused the child to take her to the loo, which was a nightly routine. Suddenly her little girl said, “Stop shouting mummy.” She was completely healed!
During the night Joyce had woken me and said, “Do you think I was foolish in what I said to the lady?” I simply said, “Keep your faith behind it.” As the people gathered for the next morning's session, the lady arrived with her face radiant and gave this wonderful testimony of a miracle working God.
Feeling helpless in the face of great need is a very common reaction, however, when we give what we can, God takes that step of faith and does more than we could ask or imagine.
by Charles Sibthorpe
