Have compassion and trust God

“When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.” ~ Matthew 14:13-21

Everyone knows the above passage as Jesus feeding the 5000 and while that is true there is a lot that is taking place in these 8 lines and so much of it resonates with me being a missionary and what I am currently doing. After looking into this passage, the first thing that stands out is that Jesus had compassion on the people that were on this part of land that He was expecting to be vacant. Now Jesus would have been tired and looking for rest after His long day but instead of sending the people away or trying to find another place to go, He stayed there and had compassion and patience with the people.

The definition of compassion is to have sympathy or to feel for someone and that’s exactly what Jesus had. He couldn’t overlook the feeling that He had and overlook the needs of the people that were on this piece of land. Being a missionary, I find myself needing to learn from Jesus in this area and have compassion for people. Yes, I feel bad for people and am heart broken for situations people are in but do I truly have the same compassion that Jesus had or do I show it in the same way as Jesus did? I would say no. There are times that I leave work and doing things and all I want to do is find rest. I don’t want to talk to anyone else, I don’t want to mess with any problems, simply put, I don’t want to do anything but rest and get away from people and be in solitude. This is how Jesus must have been feeling yet He had great compassion and patience with the people and wanted to help them out, even when He was only looking for solitude.

I feel like everyone can learn from Jesus in this area and learn what it truly means to have compassion for someone else which leads me to the next point. The disciples were with Jesus and while it was getting late, the disciples thought that it would be best to have the people leave however, Jesus thought differently. Jesus was not about to let the people leave without providing for them. So, He told the disciples to feed the people that were there. Now if I were in the disciples place I would have been thinking, “yeah right, you want me to feed all these people with the little bit of bread and fish that we have? You have got to be joking since that’s not going to happen unless you have food somewhere that we don’t know about!” Yeah, I would have thought it was a joke but Jesus was serious. Again, He had compassion for the people He was serving. And even though the disciples had very little to offer, there was still something that they could offer. How many times do we say “we’re sorry” to someone when they tell us something that’s heartbreaking? How many times do we say “sorry” because that’s all we can say at the time? How many times do we actually act on the sorry and provide rather than just saying “sorry”? I know I say or feel sorry more than I should and act on things less than I should.

The second part of the passage explains it. Jesus was demonstrating His compassion for the people. He had order and control of the situation and of the people. He knew that the disciples had little to offer and there was little that they could do to provide for the 5000+ people yet Jesus was able to work through them and use what little they had to provide. So lets think about that for today, the more I am working as a missionary and working with my placement site the more God is opening me up to seeing what compassion truly is. There are times when we feel like we have nothing to bring to the table and to contribute yet Jesus has given us all gifts and abilities that sometimes only we can do. We are able to use those gifts to make a difference and God will multiply our work for His glory. I have seen this through people that I work with already. Just recently there was a worship service in one of the 9 neighborhoods that my placement site works in and in April there was a tragic incident where a family had lost 2 members of the family in a shooting. The neighborhood and leaders of the area and my placement site could have told this family “sorry for their loss” but God calls us to have compassion for people and not only say “sorry” or “I understand” or only speak but He calls us into action. The community did just that, they came together and helped this family out by collecting an offering to give to them so that they could continue providing for their family, they were given meals, and so forth. You see, the community came together and everyone used what little they may have had to help make a big impact when everyone came together. God used what little resources there was and made a great impact.

God wants to do that in everyone of us. There were times when I thought that I could not be a missionary and that I was not equipped or ready to do some of the things that I am doing but God comes into the picture and He asks, “what do you have?” and He will work from there. As one of my last posts talked about, I am good administratively yet I know that there is more that God has called me to do. However, I easily get caught up in the thinking of, I am not fully equipped to do things and would rather stay with the things that come easily. Yet, God says otherwise and asks us to trust Him and give Him what we do have so that He can multiply our work and be our strength. What are you holding back on doing since you feel inadequate or inexperienced on doing? What is your answer when God asks you, “what do you have and what can you do?” There is so much need all around us and while I am helping in 9 neighborhoods with my placement site and 2 schools, I could tell God that I am not equipped and can’t provide for the needs of these neighborhoods and these schools and the students and people that we work with but then again God isn’t asking us to do everything. But, He is telling us to take what we have and put it to use and that He will help up and get us ready for the things ahead.

God wants to equip us and He wants to be our provider. He will provide far more than we could ever imagine. Just think, how would you have reacted if you were the disciples and realized that 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish just provided everyone with a meal where everyone was full and there was 12 baskets left over! (12 baskets and 12 disciples), God provided not only for the people that they were serving but He also provided for those that were providing the resources! Now that gives me great hope and reassurance that I am exactly where God wants me to be and that there is always something that we can do and offer and learn from Jesus. So, how are you going to start living out and showing the same compassion that Jesus had for the 5000+ people? How are you going to use what you have (gifts, finances, abilities, etc)? How are you going to allow God to take what little you may have and expand it and do greater things with than you may have ever imagined?

I know it’s easy to look at the situation in front of us and say that it’s too hard, that we’re not equipped to take on the project or help someone or do something about it, that all we can say is “we’re sorry”, “we feel you”, “we understand”, etc but what is God saying to do and how are we going to put our trust and faith in God and His word?

Don't allow incompetency or a sense of inadequacy stop you from reaching your fullest potential and God's desire. But rather have faith in God and obey what He has called you to do or is trying to get you to do. God will provide for your needs and will show you the way to accomplishing what He wants done. He's not about to throw you out on your own but He is walking along side you, just come to Him with your doubts, inability, inadequate supply, etc and allow Him to work through you! In doing so, you will feel a sense of joy and understanding God more.