Take a moment to read the following text from Matthew. What does it say? Let it sink in.
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” - Matthew 14:13-16 ESV
So here are these followers of Jesus observing all of this. They see the facts of reality as Jesus is healing the sick.
Desolate place?
Check.
Huge number of people?
Check.
It's evening?
Check.
Looking out for the best interests of the crowd they do what any of us would most likely do. They go to Jesus with the facts. "Hey, so, we have a really large number of people here, and well, it's getting pretty late in the day and we think you should really send them away so they can get to the nearest town to purchase some food for themselves." That makes perfect sense.
However, Jesus drops what I think was a bombshell of a statement. "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." I mean, honestly, they are looking at reality here! So they felt that they needed to reiterate the fact that this just isn't possible. They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” - v17
I'm not sure how they may have felt in that moment. Thinking through my own filter, here are a few bullet point feelings I might have experienced in that moment:
-Frustration because I Jesus didn't think my idea was good when it really seems that it is.
-Irritation because it seems that Jesus doesn't understand what isn't possible
-Overwhelmed because, quite frankly it's just too big for me to even grasp and Jesus is asking me to do it.
I feel that way when something seems impossible. Or when it seems that I don't have what I need, I'm ill equipped. Or when it seems that the facts of reality are just too big for me to consider anything else. I believe that Jesus wants us to feel that way because of what He says next.
And he said, “Bring them here to me.” - Matthew 14:18 ESV We know the rest of the story and how they were all fed and there was more than enough.
The point is not how anxious, overwhelmed, irritated, or frustrated we might be feeling. The point is how quickly we close the gap between staring at the fish and loaves in our hands and bringing the impossible thing to Him. This means confessing my need for Jesus and trusting that He is able.
"Bring them here to me." How have I missed that little phrase for so long? Several months back God ambushed me with that little phase. "Andrew, close the gap," God said to me. "I know you are ill equipped. I know you are not capable. I know you are unable to do it with your little fish and loaves. Bring it to me. Let me do with it what you can't."
God is calling us to close the gap between the feelings of what we see and the fact of who Jesus is. Perhaps you might find encouragement with the person that seems impossible to forgive, that besetting sin that seems to keep coming back, or the Christ-centered culture you long to create on your team. Perhaps you feel as though God has left you alone to deal with that people problem or leadership issue. He hasn't. Close the gap and bring it to Him.
