Strength For Your Journey

About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, "I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance."  Mark 8:1-3

Are you familiar with the story of when Jesus fed the multitude with a few fish and seven loaves of bread? I have heard this story since I was a small child. I read it in the Bible story books momma and daddy had on the bookshelf at home. I've heard the story preached by several ministers. Most times when I hear about this story it's all about Jesus feeding the five thousand. I want to talk today about the miracle before the miracle.


Read again Mark 8:1-10. At this time Jesus had just finished healing a deaf man and because of the wonderful things people had seen him do they told others and so right after this another crowd gathered, being taught by Jesus. He taught so wonderfully that they desired to hear more from him so they stayed with him quite a long time. So many things I can take from this but one thing I will share with you, is that you can learn so much from the Savior, so why not spend time with Him. This is kind of what we do when we study his word, attend church services, pray, work in different ministries, all in obedience and to be closer to God.

The thing that stuck out next to me was that in the midst of the crowds obedience and desire to learn more from him, Jesus saw a need. Read verse 2 again. Even though they had been with Jesus for three days, he saw that they had run out of food. Kinda like when things are going on in your life, you don't sit down, you don't give up. You continue with your routine. You're still praying, reading your Bible, going to Sunday school, singing in the choir, still listening attentively to the Lord, all the while in a wilderness. You see when you leave church on Sunday and finish listening to the sermon, you still have to go home to your wilderness. You just finished your morning quiet time with God and now off to work, your wilderness. The good news is God sees your need. It recognizes that you are running on empty and he wants to fill you up. Now of course like the disciples you may think how am I going to find anything in this wilderness. They were also listening to Jesus with the crowd and seeing all the wonderful things he had done but they still wondered. But see, when Jesus asked them what did they have, they had seven loaves of bread and they found a few fish. So what did Jesus do, he blessed it and it multiplied. Not only were they fed they were filled up and they had some leftover. (Just a footnote, I love leftovers because when I'm tired and don't feel like cooking I can just go to the refrigerator and warm up some leftovers. Right there in the refrigerator I have everything I need and I don't have to put forth any extra effort, and the best thing is when I reheat things like dressing or meatloaf it is so much better the second day because the flavors have had time to marinate and it taste so much better. Much like God's leftovers, the things we have stored up that taste so much sweeter when we pull them out the second time and they are so much more applicable to our lives at that moment.)

You see God knows the sacrifices that we make when we continue to trust him. We go to church even though we are running on empty. He sees our need and he blesses it. He takes the little that we have, which might be a sermon we heard a few Sundays ago, a scripture that we read during our morning devotion and he blesses it so that we can have strength for our journey. You see my God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So don't give up, keep trusting, keep believing. Rest assured that God sees your need and wants to show you compassion. He is there to give you strength for your journey. James Cleveland sang a song I love that said, 'little becomes much when you place it in the Master's hand'.

Most Gracious Heavenly Father,

I am speechless. I haven't said anything to anybody. I have still been going about my daily routine and all the while I am in my very own wilderness. I thank you, Heavenly Father, because you know see me where I am and you want to do something about it. I thank you because I know that during this time I can lean on your everlasting arms and you will continue to provide for me strength for my journey. Thank you. In Jesus' Name Amen.