Here we are on the brink of the GCBI school year. 2 students are already moved in next door. Everyone else arrives in the next 48 hours. This is really happening! I, for one, am so excited to get this started; no more talking ideas and plans and google calendar-ing…let’s get down the nitty gritty and get our hands dirty with relationships. We can’t wait for our whole GCBI family to be here!

So this morning I was reading Matthew 14:13-21, and I want to share what God encouraged me with.

Jesus has just heard about his cousin John being beheaded. He retreated on the lake to spend some time hashing out his grief with His Father. And as he is returning to shore he sees the crowd awaiting his arrival. He sees them and is filled with compassion and begins to heal the sick. After a while his disciples are getting a little frustrated; it’s getting dark, they’re hungry, people are getting crabby. They try to get the Lord to finish up the whole ministry thing so they can go get some food and rest. But Jesus sees an opportunity for an object lesson. You know the rest of the story, they bring Jesus all the food they can find, 5 loaves  of bread and 2 fish, and watch as five thousand people are miraculously fed. Here’s the kicker: There were 12 baskets leftover. One for each disciple.

I love this. First of all I love what we learn from the Lord about where to take our sorrow and grief. He gets alone with His Father, plugs into His source, allows Himself that time to pray His tears before God. Because of that He is able to come to shore and right away begin pouring Himself out onto the crowds again. Our intimate time spent alone with God is what allows us to be able to live a life for others. Strength and endurance for  ministry, an ability to get over ourselves and be about others is a fruit of having a vibrant private life with the Lord.

Then we see that the disciples haven’t quite grasped this yet. They are going on their own strength. They see the circumstances and think, “this will never work.” Where Jesus saw the crowds of people as an opportunity for ministry, his disciples saw the crowd of people as an inconvenience. How often does the Lord provide an opportunity for ministry in my path, and I see it as an inconvenience? Probably too often.

I think this is where Jesus sees a teachable moment for his disciples. He could have had manna fall from heaven or snapped His fingers and had 5000 hamburgers appear in people’s laps. But instead he had his disciples gather what they had and bring it Him. And they watched as God stretched what they had to accomplish something so much bigger than they ever could have imagined. They got to see a physical picture of how Jesus wants ministry to work. We bring Him what we have. He multiplies it and makes it work. How many people will He feed with the little you are able to bring Him?

And then my favorite part. The 12 baskets left. Jesus was sending the point home. If you trust Me and do what I say, even when it doesn’t seem to you like it could ever work…. If you will not trust your view of the situation as much as you trust My view of the situation…. If you will step out in obedience and live a life for others even when you’re tired, hungry, and crabby, I will make you full and satisfy you in ways you never could have done yourself.

This was God’s encouragement to me as we get GCBI started this weekend. Kirsten, plug into Me for strength, bring Me what you have and watch as I multiply it, and relentlessly pour yourself out for the people I put in front of you, and you will be filled and refreshed by Me.