“How much bread do you have? Go and see.” Mark 6:38 TEV
“When what you see looks like a problem, start looking for the possibility.”
My thoughts today are that “any problem offers a new possibility.”
There will be problems; get used to it. A difficulty presents itself and for a bit of time that can be all that you see. You may even enlarge your view of the problem by projecting the possibility of further complications that challenge might bring.
Jesus often recognized people’s problems and then challenged them to think “outside the box,” to ignore the immediate and consider the ultimate, to look past the problem and entertain a possibility. To a man paralyzed most of his life but waiting for a hoped-for miracle, Jesus challenged him to “take up his bed and walk,” daring him to consider his impossibility somehow as possible. (Read John 5:1-8 NKJV). The stories are endless, in the Bible and in everyday lives today.
I think the miraculous feeding of the multitude must be one of my favorite stories; probably it’s a lot of people’s favorite because everyone is identified somewhere in the story. (Read John 6:1-13 NIV). When an overwhelming crowd followed Jesus, the disciples saw problems, not just one but many. The people were too hungry. There were too many. They were too far from home. It was too late in the day. Their answer to the problem was, “Send them away” to provide for themselves. Jesus challenged their problem even further when He said, “Give them to eat.”
Now the people’s problem was the disciples’ problem – a responsibility they had no adequate means to accomplish and saw no way to solve. They saw only what they lacked and the problem they faced, until Jesus gave them wise advice, “Go and see what you have.” That’s always a good place to start; start with what you have, not what you lack. With God that will be enough. That’s how God works. What you trust to God’s hands will always turn out to be enough.
Are you a person in the crowd, facing a need and no way to provide for yourself? Are you a disciple with a solution that doesn’t really address the problem, or an assignment you have no idea how to achieve? Maybe you are simply a disciple trusting Jesus with the problem and happily receiving and sharing with others what He miraculously provides. See Philippians 4:19 NIV.
When what you see looks like a problem, immediately look for the possibility. It’s there. In life, there will always be problems; with God there will always be possibilities for blessing and success. Look for possibilities that come from a God who knows no impossibility. “Who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you can ask or even think.” Ephesians 3:20 NKJV.
My prayer for you today is: discover what God can do and you will find the possibility.