Believing God Above Our Limitations

You may have had a dream related to your calling but somewhere along the way an obstacle arose and you lost momentum. Soon you were off track altogether and you realized how easily it is to have your dreams derailed. You started out energized but things changed as hard reality set in.

Early in Jesus’ ministry, his reputation for healings and wonders attracted huge crowds. “Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples … Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him …” (John 6:3, 5, ESV).

Bible scholars estimate this crowd was between 10,000 and 15,000. Yet, as the throng gathered, the disciples recognized a dilemma: “Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’” (6:5). After the disciples’ initial elation at the sight of the people, reality set in quite quickly!

Think back to the excitement of your first job. You were eager to get to work but within a few days, you saw that your boss was not who he appeared to be, your nearest colleague resented you, and the demands on your time were far greater than you had been told. You realized, “I had no idea it would be this difficult.” Philip must have felt that way as he answered Jesus, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little” (6:7). That was a huge amount of money in that day.

Jesus had called Philip to a great victory, but Philip just couldn’t see it. The same may be true for us: God has called us to expect great things in our walk with him but it requires faith. Will we be derailed by our limitations or will we believe God for a miracle?

Jesus’ challenge to Philip had a purpose: “He said this to test [Philip], for he himself knew what he would do” (6:6). Christ’s confidence was based on his sense of God’s reality behind every situation as he instructed the disciples, “Have the people sit down, because the Father is about to meet this need” (see 6:10).

God asks you to trust his version of reality beyond what you can see. Your situation doesn’t depend on your resources, it depends on God’s. “He will meet all your needs according to his riches in glory” (Philippians 4:19, NIV).