Where the Resources

We find ourselves facing increasing difficulties that threaten to intimidate and discourage us. If we allow them to, they can give us excuses to doubt God and His provision for our lives. But the question ever remains – how will we choose to respond to Satan's insinuations?

My wife now not only has had Fibromyalgia for over a year which required her cutting back to part-time work, but for the past several weeks has been totally debilitated by the presence of extreme back pain which completely eliminates her ability to work altogether. She cannot even stand very long or walk without excruciating pain and needs full-time attention. An MRI revealed that she has three bulging discs and one of them has ruptured causing extreme pain all the way down one leg.

This loss of her job has obviously created even more pressure on our financial situation. My construction work has been sporadic at best over the last year and if it were not for the new business that God brought to us which is still just getting started, we would have no apparent source of income whatsoever. In addition, our expenses seem to be increasing with all the hot weather, the medical bills etc. and this has added to the enormous amount of debt we were already struggling under from years past.

Again, the question presses itself in the face of all of these events in our lives – how will we respond to these multiplied suggestions of Satan that God is not what we are coming to believe that He is.

The reason I keep coming back to this question is because I have a quotation posted on my wall that keeps reminding me that things are not as they usually appear in this world of deception and fear. Here is the original quote.

When trial comes to prove us,

when we cannot see an increase

of prosperity and comfort before us,

but a probable lessening of these things,

when there is a pressure

necessitating sacrifice on the part of all,

how shall we receive Satan’s insinuations

that we are going to have a hard time,

that everything is going to pieces,

that there is sore trouble ahead of us? . . .

We ought to gather up

the fragments of heaven’s blessings

and tokens for good,

saying, Lord, I believe in Thee,

in Thy servants, and in Thy work.

I will trust in Thee.

{CTr 107}

So how am I going to respond to Satan's insinuations in all the things that are taking place in my life right now? One thing is to pay attention to where God has me meditating right now in His Word. I find myself currently immersed in the story in John 6 where Jesus challenged Philip to consider the situation they found themselves facing, not completely dissimilar to what we are facing.

The beginning of the chapter sets up the scene with thousands of people flocking into a wilderness retreat because of their enthusiastic desire to experience more from this sensational new teacher they recently discovered. Jesus had tried to retire in order to spend some quiet time with His disciples alone, but the crowds quickly dispelled much hope of that taking place. But instead of resenting the intrusion, Jesus ministers to them as revealed in the other gospels, by sharing incredible principles of the kingdom never before seen so clearly since the beginning of the history.

But a problem develops during this time. All of these people are far from any normal source of nourishment and most of them had not planned ahead and brought food for themselves. Likely they had not thought that they would be gone from home for so long and had no idea that they would be riveted all day with listening to such a compelling teacher. But as the large gathering lingered hour after hour the physical processes that produce hunger still took place and after awhile the discomfort began to overcome the intrigue and Jesus and His disciples were facing a real crisis.

It is too easy for us, knowing the end of the story as we do, to miss the situation as the disciples viewed it from their perspective. It is hard to put completely out of our mind the reality that Jesus planned to feed this crowd through a miraculous display of care for them. None of this crossed the mind of any of the disciples and all that they could bring into their consciousness was the current evidence threatening to create a disaster and a great deal of discontent by thousands of people becoming very agitated and unpredictable as their hunger drove them to ever more desperate measures.

Even though no one had invited any of these people into this remote region to start with, the disciples now began to feel nervous, like somehow the blame might end up on them or even more so on Jesus for bringing about such a catastrophic problem. People when hungry can become very unpredictable and even violent and they do not make very good listeners at that point. Given that the disciples were far outnumbered and that they too did not have anything to eat themselves, the problem they were facing was very real and seemingly quite impossible to solve. If hopeless was a word that was coming up in their thinking it was beginning to press itself to the front of their minds at this point.

But I have noticed that this is a pattern that Jesus seemed to produce repeatedly in the lives of His disciples. Over and over they found themselves facing difficult or impossible situations where they were required to challenge their assumptions about reality. Over and over Jesus would allow circumstances to develop that would expose their fears, their inabilities, their inadequacies and the level of faith they were willing to exercise. Typically their response exposed very little faith but more often a lot of doubt and fear. But the same is still true today among many of us who claim to be His disciples.

At this point in the story it seems that Jesus asks a question that only seems to aggravate the situation. Instead of offering a glimmer of hope that He might be thinking of a solution to the enormous problem they were facing, He asks Philip a question that seems to reinforce the impossibility of the problem. “Where are we going to buy bread to feed all of these people?”

As I have noticed before in this question, there is a subtle clue in there that was missed originally by Philip in his response to Jesus' question. Like we so often do, Philip immediately dropped into the normal mode of thinking about the financial perspective of the problems they were facing. This focus on finances is so typical for most of us that we miss the fact that Jesus did not really ask Philip about finances in the first place. But there is good reason for this mistake that is important for me to pay attention to just as much as it was for His disciples back then.

The world's system of belief about reality is based solidly on three principles involving the spirit of Mammon, the false god of worldly value that governs currency and finances. The history of economy and finances is a most fascinating one when we see it through the eyes of heaven but is seldom studied from that perspective. Economy is actually one of the three foundation legs of the false system of governance and relationship that this whole world is based upon. Kingship, economy and law have been exposed as the three foundations of the counterfeit system of this world set up by the fallen angel who originated the first resistance against heaven's system of government. That is a whole different but very fascinating set of issues that I learned about several years ago. But economy is a very important part of this counterfeit way of perceiving reality and it distorts nearly everything we think about.

So it is no surprise that Philip responded as he did and very likely most of us would have done similarly. How many times do I immediately begin to worry about how I am going to keep going when circumstances disturb my financial security? Notice that this might be seen all through the way I listed our current problems at the beginning of this piece. I am constantly pressured to view life from a financial perspective and nearly everything around us is designed to keep our focus along this vein.

But what does the Bible author mention in this most interesting narrative? He says here that Jesus asked this question to test Philip, for He already knew what He intended to do.

That is a most profound statement that must be applied to my own perspective every time I find myself facing seemingly impossible circumstances. I have an incredible advantage over the disciples of knowing the end of the story as written here in the Bible, yet how much does that motivate me to respond differently than how Philip responded? Doesn't the first reaction to similar circumstances involve a penchant to focus on the financial stress that such problems can produce? Philip's response seems to be nothing out of the ordinary and we should be very careful in our criticism since we likely would have said something very similar. In fact, we do say things quite similar frequently as we face our own challenges not unlike what the disciples faced on that mountainside.

But let me add a little more to what I have already started to list above. Not only has our sources for financial support been dwindling but the need for physical assistance has dramatically increased as well. My wife now requires time-consuming amounts of attention to care for her needs all day and sometimes at night as she is unable to do many of even the small things most people take for granted. We have been blessed to have my sister and her husband staying with us for a couple weeks while I have been traveling out of state during that time, but now they need to return home and I am faced with even greater difficulties as a result. How am I to care for her and try to build up a growing business all at the same time? My resources definitely are far outstripped by my difficulties.

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 NRSV)

This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. (John 6:6)

Now here is something compelling from this story. Notice that Jesus never did resolve the problem of finances that His disciples thought they were facing. Jesus did not address that problem using the approach that seemed most obvious to everyone else. Philip, like most of us do, had zeroed in on a solution based on the normal way we always think problems have to be resolved – by throwing more money at them. That is the world's fundamental way of approaching problems, by figuring out how much money it is going to take to fix them. Money becomes the focal medium through which everything is evaluated and as such it becomes the filter that colors everything and keeps us under the deceiving influence of a counterfeit spirit. As a result we also remain largely blinded and deceived and unable to perceive reality the way it really functions from God's perspective.

So why did Jesus pose this question to Philip in the first place? And why does He allow circumstances to bring up similar questions for me time after time in my own life? I am beginning to see that very possibly, just like Philip, maybe I am not paying close enough attention to the nature of the question as God poses it and instead am slipping into my own assumptions about what is going on. Philip thought Jesus was asking about money, but Jesus' question was not focused on money but on where to look for a solution.

What would have been the right answer to Jesus' question? That has intrigued me for some time and for good reason, for if I can begin to see what Jesus was really after here I suspect that it can have powerful implications for similar situations that I currently face in my own life. If Jesus didn't get the best response from Philip that He had hoped for, can He get a better response from me, one who now has the rest of the story that gives me much more perspective than Philip had?

I also believe that one reason Jesus posed the question that He did was to draw in His disciples to be more keenly aware of their need. But this was not to produce doubt or discouragement but to engage them fully at both the mental and emotional level so that when He provided a solution it could be appreciated to the maximum degree. If we don't know the extent of our impossibilities neither can we truly appreciate the degree to which we should praise and honor God when He provides a miraculous provision.

In contrast, I am intrigued at how Jesus related to the suggestion from Andrew even though on the surface it seemed to have little to offer to the situation. What I see in Andrew's words is a shift of focus, a turning away from the typical economy-based solution to a hope-oriented suggestion based on what is already at hand. Even though the resources Andrew mentions were impossibly inadequate for the problem, Andrew chose to focus on what they did have instead of what they did not have. It also was not dependent on money but on real kinds of provisions closer to what God provides to directly address our needs.

What Andrew did was to act as the connecting link between the meager and inadequate resources of man and the One who has no physical or financial limitations. The only limitation on God is the lack of our willingness to trust His heart and bring to Him what we do have and place it under His authority. Jesus plans involved acting outside of their normal expectations and He didn't require them to know ahead of time how He was going to solve the problem. Believing in Jesus does not mean we have to believe in how He might solve our problems but believing in the heart of the One who has promised to provide for all of our needs. It is a matter of learning to trust His heart more than just trusting His hands. As one preacher put it so well, God asks us to seek His face, not seek His hands.

What I see in this story and what I want to learn in my own situation is that the true answer to the question Jesus posed to Philip was sitting right in front of him. Jesus asked where they would find enough to feed all these people. That 'where' was Jesus Himself. Jesus soon demonstrated that He Himself was the only vital resource that they needed to solve their impossible situations. And nothing has changed today. Jesus is still the 'where' that I need to seek to resolve any and every problem that I will ever face.

When I focus on seeking or worrying about finding a financial solution to my problems, I am turning away from the only reliable source of provision that has been promised to me. Jesus came to reveal that God is my provider and takes full responsibility for caring for His children. But when His children refuse to trust His heart by focusing on the anti-christ spirit of Mammon and focus on financial solutions instead of relying totally on God, it can actually block Him from revealing the unlimited and abundant provisions He has waiting for us. It was only after Andrew expressed his little glimmer of faith that Jesus was able to seize the moment and reveal the heart of the Father in a provision so extravagant that it took everyone by surprise.

I am learning something more about faith and belief here. Jesus did not expect His disciples to have faith that He could multiply the bread and fishes at this point in their experience. That is a left-brain kind of faith that often frustrates us greatly. We often try to figure out ourselves how God should solve our problems and then attempt to work up intense intellectual or emotional 'belief' that God is going to do what we demand of Him. When things don't work out the way we planned or asked for, we become impatient with God and our distrust of His heart begins to surface into the open.

But this may be exactly why God allows us to suffer many times in order to expose the deeper hidden unbelief that is preventing Him from doing what He longs to do in our lives. He wants us to see the deception in our own heart and the distrust that lies hidden deep inside under the veneer of religion, the unbelief that prevents Him from accessing the deeper levels of our heart where He wants to reside. Until we allow these deeper levels of mistrust to surface and confess them honestly to Him, we will be trapped in lies about God that prevent Him from exercising all that He wants to do for us as our Lord and our God.

What Jesus wanted from His disciples was a glimmer of belief in the trustworthiness of God, that Jesus was able and eager to provide for them no matter how impossible circumstances might suggest. The real issue in all of our lives is how worthy we believe God to be of our trust, not how much 'faith' we can generate to leverage Him to do what we want. And it is real faith of this nature, faith that focuses on the heart of God instead of our notions of how He should fix our problems – this kind of faith will allow God the latitude to address our situations in any way He chooses instead of our predetermined ideas of what He should do.

So I choose to resist Satan's insinuations that things are falling apart and God is not going to take care of us. I choose to focus on the goodness of God, on the faithfulness of His heart, on the limitless nature of His resources and on the unrestrainable compassion that emanates from His heart. I believe that as I choose to gather up the fragments of heaven's blessings and tokens for good, just as Jesus instructed His followers to gather up the fragments left over from what the multitude had feasted on till they could eat no more, that my own faith will be strengthened and my own life will result in a testimony that will bring honor to God's reputation and bless all who see more clearly what He is really like.

Lifting Up Our Eyes

Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" (John 6:5)

It is always exciting to suddenly uncover yet another amazing link, a vein of extreme value that if followed can lead one into reservoirs of rich discoveries. Many times the entryway into these secret passageways look so unassuming, so innocuous that they are easily overlooked. But the Spirit is always waiting for anyone to come along with enough openness who is listening and desiring to be led by the Spirit and He is eager to introduce them to resources of real wealth if they are willing to be led.

I do not say that arrogantly I hope. It is just that I have learned over the years, and particularly since I started practicing inductive Bible study, that there is no end to the richness of the Word. It is like an inexhaustible labyrinth of amazing intricacies revealing beauties that may have long lay dormant for lack of people willing to choose the road less traveled.

I am not saying that one should try to compile unique and strange interpretations of Scripture just for the sake of being different. That is likely a counterfeit that can keep people from knowing reality as God views it. What I am referring to here is that the Bible is full of reinforcing insights to enhance the true picture of God and the perfection of His beauty and righteousness for those who come to it seeking to know the real truth about Him. The Spirit has been given to us for this very purpose, but it is our choice whether we will allow His Spirit to do the work He was sent to do in our minds and hearts.

This morning as I opened the Word and reviewed again the passage I am studying, I was directed to this phrase about Jesus lifting up His eyes and seeing. I remember that I have read this other places and became curious about any possible connections, though at first I couldn't think of anything significant. But I have learned to allow room for the Spirit to introduce me to such things as I study so I did a phrase search in the New Testament to see what might show up. What I began to find continues to expand and become more and more exciting to me. And all of it is right here in the book of John.

First of all, the previous time a similar phrase was used is not far back in this book. When Jesus was talking to His disciples in the story of the woman from Sychar He told them that they needed to lift up their eyes and begin looking at life in a different way than they were used to seeing. I see great significance in that for me as well. I need to see things from God's perspective much more than I do just as the disciples needed to do. Just like them, I have far too many prejudices and built-in traditions that blind me to what is obvious to the rest of heaven's inhabitants. As a child of God I need to learn to view reality the way God sees it, not the way I have typically looked at it in the past.

"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together." (John 4:35-36)

After looking at the other references to this phrase I also noticed some other key words and phrases that seem to link them all together in a most fascinating way. Not only does Jesus talk about seeing reality and others around us very differently, but embedded in these passages are references to eternal life closely connected with joy and being together with each other and God. All of these concepts seem closely tied together in some very instructive and significant ways.

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

...all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.

But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves." (John 17:1-3,5,10-11,13)

There are so many powerful implications in these passages that I can hardly begin to unpack them all very far right now. But anyone who understands the true definition of joy as I have learned it over the past few years will hear strong reverberations in these verses that goes much deeper than just an intellectual analysis of these verses. This are challenges to come into an intimate relationship with the Father and with Jesus and to know their hearts in a way that the whole plan of salvation is designed to create. This is the focal point of God's desire for restoring the universe to the unity that it once experienced before Lucifer started his rebellion long ago in heaven.

This also adds much more dimension to my growing understanding of the concept of glory that I have been learning recently. According to what I am seeing here, true glory must have a lot to do with the kind of arrangement that brings honor to God. There is so much to this concept that it is impossible to pull together here, but I am trying to at least create an outline of what I am starting to see here.

Father, help me to lift up my eyes and learn to regularly see in a way that will empower me to perceive the way Jesus perceives. Cause me to see those around me with new eyes, with compassion and sympathy and the kindness that filled the heart of Jesus at all times. Show me how vital this is to bringing to Your reputation the kind of glory that will attract others to want to know You intimately so that Your glory will increase on the earth. As we join together in knowing our true Father and Jesus Christ who came to reveal You to us, our lives can also reflect Your incredible beauty and attractiveness to draw others to know You. As we do this together we can experience the real meaning of joy, of sharing love together, of feeling valued, cherished and honored as children of the King of Kings.

The Passover Connection

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. (John 6:4)

I have been looking around to see why this verse was included in this passage. There is always a good reason – and particularly in John – whenever something is put into the text. Generally nothing was written just for filler; there are links all throughout these passages connected to other places either in the passage itself, somewhere else in the book or even further in the rest of the Bible. Following these connections can uncover amazing discoveries, insights and life-transforming realities many times.

I looked up the word Passover and where it was used anytime in the New Testament and found that there are four Passovers mentioned in connection with the life of Jesus. One is mentioned in Luke where it tells the story of when Jesus' parents took Him to His first Passover when He was twelve years old. The other gospels only mention Passover in the context of the last weekend of Jesus' life on earth, but in the book of John there are three Passovers mentioned during the ministry period of Jesus' life.

Interestingly, the first time in John that Passover was mentioned is worded nearly identical to the above verse. The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. (John 2:13) This appears from the context to refer to a series of events that occurred around the time of the first Passover after Jesus went public with His ministry. Some of these events would have occurred roughly around six months after His baptism since the total period of His ministry was 3½ years. Interestingly a very similar experience happened during that first Passover that happened just before His last Passover – a dramatic cleansing of the temple.

As I look at the links between these references to Passover in the book of John, I notice that while the first and last Passover was connected by a temple cleansing, the one mentioned in this chapter is linked to the last Passover by references to making Jesus King of Israel. In this instance Jesus refuses to allow the people to make Him king but in the last occurrence Jesus did allow and even encouraged the people to surround Him with the activities and symbols that accompanied the entrance of a new king.

The introduction that John uses for the last Passover in Jesus' life is also worded very similarly to the previous two. Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves. (John 11:55)

Now as I continue to look at these three Passover records together, I see something else very interesting. Closely associated with the first story of Passover is the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding – the first public miracle that was designed to begin drawing people's attention to His ministry.

The second mention of an approaching Passover in John is closely linked to the story here in chapter six of multiplying bread and fish for people to eat. In the very next verse after the mention of Passover, Jesus asks Philip where they might find bread to feed all the people. I find this very significant given the strong context in the book of John where Jesus portrays Himself particularly as the bread of life. Here it appears that Jesus is beginning to draw people's attention to thinking about the true meaning of the Passover and that the only real source of satisfaction is when we look to Jesus Himself as our true source of nourishment and provision.

Closely linked to the last Passover we see Jesus expressing His passionate desire to eat that Passover with His disciples. And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." (Luke 22:15) At this Passover event Jesus brings into the picture both the bread and the wine. That would connect this Passover, at least from my perspective, to both of the previous Passovers mentioned above in some significant ways. Some time before the first Passover He turned plain water into an abundance of wine. Around the time of the second Passover during His time of ministry He multiplies bread for people to eat. During the last Passover He connects all of the dots and tries to make plain what kind of kingdom He has come to set up on this earth.

When I read further in this story in John 6, I notice some striking similarities between expressions describing how He multiplies the food in this story with descriptions of what He did during the last Passover meal with His disciples in the upper room.

Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. (John 6:11)

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." (Matthew 26:26)

While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is My body." (Mark 14:22)

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood." (Luke 22:19-20)

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." (1 Corinthians 11:23-25)

I sense from these verses that there may well be some significant links between the fish and the wine here, but I have not yet explored that more thoroughly. But quite clearly from comparing these stories, the language is so similar in what Jesus does that it would appear that in a sense, the feeding of the multitude in this story was a precursor or foretaste of the communion table that now has so much significance to Christians today.

I see another connection between the last two accounts of the Passover that contain potential insights beyond what I currently perceive. In the story here in John six Jesus sits down with His disciples on the mountain and then later has the disciples speak to everyone else to sit down in preparation for being fed. In the story of the last Passover we again see Jesus sitting down with His disciples. However, this time Jesus gets up and goes around to each of His disciples and washes their feet as an example of the kind of kingdom that He had come to establish.

All throughout these stories it becomes clear that there is an ongoing clash between the assumptions that religious people have about the kingdom of heaven and the true nature of that kingdom as demonstrated and taught by Jesus. God's kingdom is focused on selfless service for others; on the other hand, human desires for power and control over others motivates them to want others to serve them at the expense of diminishing the apparent worth of the people serving them.

It seems that this mistaken notion of the kingdom of heaven is still just as prevalent today as it has ever been. Today's popular scenarios of what might take place when Jesus returns are often replete with ideas of brute power full of control and force. It appears that many believe that though Jesus demonstrated a life of humility and meekness when He was here on earth the first time, for some reason He is going to change His tactics and employ force and intimidation and fear to get His way the second time He comes to this earth. This fits well with the 'angry lamb' perception that shows up in those who are finally lost. (see Revelation 6:16,17)

Whether people believe in a literal return of Jesus to take His loved ones home with Him for a thousand years as taught by Scripture, or whether they believe ideas of a rapture, a time of tribulation and other such doctrines designed for the counter-reformation and initiated by the Catholic Jesuits, all of these predictions seem to be filled with assumptions that Jesus will abandon His original methods in favor of adopting methods and attitudes closer to what we prefer to see happen. They assume that the descriptions of power and great glory that will be experienced at the second coming mean that God has given up on His original demonstrations of love and meekness and compassion and will resort to force and anger to finish the job He started.

But these beliefs obscure the true nature of God's real power. They actually reinforce the lies of the enemy who asserts that love is not enough to overcome the force and malignity of sin or to produce obedience. But far from being inadequate to meet the challenge, God's love is actually the only element in the universe capable of drawing us and finishing the job of vindicating the reputation of God through the testimony and lives of those who are saved. The problem is not that love is inadequate but that we do not appreciate the subtleness of the real power in love.

We think too much like sinners have been induced to think all through the history of this world. It is very easy to believe that while it might be nice to demonstrate meekness and compassion and kindness for awhile, at some point that tactic has to be abandoned for stronger measures to intimidate people through more forceful means to accept the truth. But these ideas destroy the very essence of what Jesus came to reveal about the Father. The introduction of force, fear and coercion undermines the very foundation of the government that Jesus came to set up in the hearts of all who would embrace His provisions and submit to His authority.

Just as most people have mistaken ideas about what took place at the very first Passover in Egypt, so too they have confused ideas about what took place at the last Passover when Jesus fulfilled all the symbolic representations woven throughout the whole Old Testament system of feasts and rituals. Far from resorting to force and intimidation, God's methods are designed to reveal that His original way of doing things and of governing the universe is perfectly adequate to meet any crisis or opposition or counterfeit. As we have an open mind to allow the Word to speak for itself, we shall begin to see the incredible beauty and attractiveness of God instead of inventing scenarios based on our own twisted desires.

When God Asks Questions

Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. (John 6:5-6)

I have noticed something about the way that Jesus related to people that is different than leaders usually relate to people today. Jesus used the technique of questions to make a point rather than simply spelling out plainly what He wanted to convey. This has the effect of engaging others and causing them to stop and challenge their assumptions or at least to begin using their own minds and hearts more than they typically are used to doing.

This reminds me of the special benefits I have observed whenever people discover the wonderful advantages of inductive Bible study. Instead of being spoon-fed with pre-thought-out conclusions that have been broken down into what are termed 'Bible studies', a person is taught to use a simple format of study that requires them to think for themselves as well as learn to listen to the Spirit of God in ways they likely have never experienced before.

This method of Bible study can many times be viewed as a threat by mainstream religion because it undermines the control that religious institutions have over the minds of their millions of followers. It tends to put people much more directly in touch with God personally and stimulates thinking outside the normal boundaries laid down by tradition and church dogma. Because it seems to cause disunity it is often viewed with great suspicion by leadership. But the unity that they are usually trying to maintain is really more along the lines of uniformity through rigid control by human authority rather than the unity of spirit that will be seen among the true followers of Jesus Christ.

As with pretty much everything in God's kingdom, questioning can be extremely beneficial but it also has its counterfeit in Satan's schemes to lead us into deception. The key factor between true devotion in spiritual life and counterfeit ideas that appear very religious and pious is the state of a person's spirit in their personal relationship with God. In this second instance, questions are used to reinforce doubt and produce unbelief instead of to uncover exciting truths and fresh revelations of God that will increase faith and deepen a person's connection with heaven.

Jesus' questions very often were designed to stimulate people to begin to use their own minds and lead them to realize the dissonance between their intellectual beliefs and their heart beliefs many times. Here in this instance Jesus started out with the assumptions that most of us would start with even though the writer clearly states that Jesus already knew what He planned to do. He started where His disciples would likely be thinking in order to engage them with Him so that when He did reveal heaven's perspective and plans they could be part of what He was doing instead of just outside observers.

I noticed something about this question that Jesus posed to Philip that I find interesting. Jesus asked Philip where they might find food to feed all of these people who were coming to hear Jesus, but Philip in his answer gravitated to thinking about how much it would cost to feed them all, not where to find the food.

I find this difference significant. How often we become so stuck in a certain mode of thinking that we miss the simple questions that God may pose for us to ponder and instead rush to dwell on what we consider the greatness of our difficulties.

Did Jesus intend for Philip to become overwhelmed with the difficulty of the situation that was developing in front of them? I'm not sure about that. But I do believe that it may be important at times for us to be aware of the enormity and impossibility of our circumstances before we are able to appreciate God's provisions and His love and grace in providing for us. When we think that our problems can be solved by ourselves with a little assistance from God, it is very easy for us to think that we have contributed something of value to His solutions in ways that deceive us as to how God has provided our salvation.

But when God allows us to come into situations where it finally becomes obvious that our resources are totally inadequate to deal with our problems, we may find ourselves moving into the interesting emotion of hopeless despair which may be just where God wants us to be. We may be stepping into the very incubator of faith itself.

Hopeless despair is one of the big six emotions that have been identified as emotions that need to be experienced as part of our maturing process. But this particular emotion is one that many people are very afraid to experience because inside they are sure they may become stuck there and might never be able to return. Or they may think that hopeless despair may somehow dishonor God or make them look like inferior Christians with no faith, so that emotion must be avoided at all costs.

But in reality, to grow into a healthy maturity each person must at some point in their lives learn to return to a state of joy and peace from every one of these six major emotions that all of us have to face from time to time. When we fail to learn how to emotionally recover from any one of them we become almost paranoid of even getting close to those emotions because we may get stuck in them and not know how to ever escape. We also remain stuck in levels of immaturity that dishonors our heavenly Parent.

God does not want to leave us in immaturity for all of our lives. It is one thing to be immature because we have not yet had time to grow up enough, to have a chance to learn recovery from all of these emotions. But it is another thing to become stunted because we refuse to cooperate with God's leading in our life and to be mentored into greater maturity through various circumstances designed to challenge us. Hopeless despair is one of those emotions that is often the last that people are willing to face and learn to grow through instead of running away from each time.

When properly understood, hopeless despair is actually one of the most exciting emotions that we might ever face in our lives. I know this may sound absurd at first, but when we are facing situations that push us toward this intimidating emotion, we are actually getting very close to the front seat where we may be positioned strategically to view some of the most awesome revelations of God's power and glory that can be seen anywhere. But the best view can only be experienced when we allow ourselves to be seated in the front row of hopeless despair.

In essence, Jesus was inviting Philip here to take a seat on the front row and sit down with Him in hopeless despair to enjoy the best vantage point in the theater. Jesus already had learned the wonderful benefits of this seat and had developed His own maturity through obedience throughout His growing up years. Now He was engaged in the process of mentoring His disciples by introducing to them the skills and lessons needed to grow them into greater maturity. At this point it was time to learn how to trust God whenever circumstances appear totally impossible, and so He engaged Philip with this question to give him the first option of participating with Him in learning how God does things as opposed to how humans usually do things.