Great Expectations

Right now we are in a series called "Great Expectations" at church. How timely a message it has been for me! Our church is believing for big things this year, and so am I. I feel like God stretches me to believe for bigger things every year, and He is working my spiritual muscles hard-core right now. I almost feel like I'm about to pull something. It got to me the other day, all this stretching. I was near my breaking point, almost about to give up. How thankful I am that I have such a strong church I receive encouragement from every week. I was sitting in church when Pastor John said these words -

"If God gives the Vision, He will give the Provision."

This resonated within me. I thought about all of the things that I am believing God for. Things that HE gave me vision for that I just can't see happening. This reminded me of the story when Jesus fed the 5000 people. Mark 6: 34-37a begins this way. "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. 'This is a remote place,' they said, 'and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.' But he answered, 'You give them something to eat.'"

You give them something to eat... The disciples saw the problem, and it was a big problem. They thought they had a solution, but Jesus messed up their earthly thinking with that phrase. He put a crazy thought in their heads. They feed them? Their reply in the rest of verse 37 shows how they felt about this idea-

"They said to him, 'That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?' "

That's not quite what Jesus had in mind. Verse 38

"'How many loaves do you have?' he asked. 'Go and see.'" First Jesus gave them a radical vision. You feed them. Then He gave them instructions that would give them a heart more like His. Go and see. Go and see the hungry crowds that I have compassion for, and go and see how much it is going to take to feed them. The disciples had to start figuring out what they could find to contribute to this crazy idea Jesus had. They came back with a disheartening report. "Five loaves and two fish." What could Jesus do with that? You'd be surprised. All Jesus wanted from His disciples was a seed. He wanted something that He could work with. Once He had that, He was able to multiply it and fulfill His vision. From five loaves and two fish, over 5000 people were fed.

If God gives the Vision, He will give the Provision.

God has given me a vision for my life. It's big, and will require a lot. And honestly, sometimes I think God is crazy to give me such big dreams. I can't see how it will work, but that's not my job. My job is to go and see. My job is to develop a heart that echo's God's compassion for people. My job is to bring what I have to God - all of my time, energy, finances, faith - and watch Him do the rest!