Ministry can be relentlessly busy. There are days when you just want to stop. You don’t want to leave Christ or quit your ministry; you just want a break from the pace.
The disciples certainly knew that desire. You can almost read it between the lines of their complaints in Matthew 14. The opposition to Jesus was increasing as the Pharisees were now openly declaring that His work was Satanic (Mt. 12:24). The pressure from the crowds for Jesus to heal the sick was ever-present. And then came the news of John the Baptist’s beheading (vv. 1-12). When hearing that report, Jesus withdrew for some privacy (v. 13), and undoubtedly the disciples wanted the same quiet for a time.
Yet there was no quiet to be found. Jesus withdrew, but the crowds followed, and in great compassion, Christ ministered to them. And that meant more work for the disciples, too. The demands that day evidently were great, because they were still engaged in the task as evening came — and still thousands awaited Jesus’ ministry.
The patience of the disciples evidently broke at that point: “It’s late, there is nothing around here. Send the crowds away so that they can get something to eat” (my paraphrase of v. 15). Following those lines, we can probably read something like, “and then we can get something to eat and some rest also!”
The disciples might have been “done,” but Jesus wasn’t finished for the day. He had at least one more lesson for them — a lesson about God’s provision for daily needs and ministry tasks. So He took two fish and a few cakes of bread and fed 5000 men and their families. Then the disciples took up all the remainders and had twelve full baskets of food (one for each man!). Jesus provided the daily bread for the crowd and ministry encouragement for the twelve: “whatever you need, you can trust Me to provide…”
Then Jesus put the disciples into a boat (and thereby sent them directly into the storm) and left them to go pray. It is no stretch to suppose that when they got in the boat they took their baskets of provision, their baskets of reminder of God’s grace, with them. And when the storm arose, they responded with fear. With their baskets at their feet, they were afraid and anxious (and maybe just a little angry?). All they wanted that day was a little break, a little time away, a little refreshment. Was that too much to ask?
And what Jesus did in sending them into that storm with a cache of food, was to remind them of His ample provision. His past works of grace were stimulants to trust Him in the future for more grace. They chose fear and faithlessness instead (vv. 26-27, 31).
In light of this account, I ask two questions this morning:
- What has been God’s provision for you in the past? Where have you experienced His sustaining grace and abundant provision for you? What has He done in you and through you that was unexpected kindness? (This is your food basket.)
- What is the storm you are in that is now tempting you to forget God’s past provision? Are you letting the temporary nature of a trial to overwhelm your understanding of God’s grace and your reliance on Him?
God has given each of us ample reason to trust Him for our daily needs. His past provisions may have elicited gratitude at that time, but gratitude for God’s past provision are not just empty words of thanks; that gratitude is a reminder and stimulant to trust Him in the future.
Words of Grace 