What are We Going to Do?
Meditation for the week of March 3, 2013
Mark 8:8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.
We live in a day of great uncertainty. The government is cutting back on its spending. Inflation is rampant. Many workers have been laid off and many have lost their unemployment benefits. Many have lost some or all of their pensions. We can’t afford to get sick because even with insurance, the deductibles and co-pays are beyond most people’s ability to pay. What are we going to do?
Maybe it is time to remember that the Lord knows exactly how to care for us in troublesome times and we need to trust Him. He has asked us to pray, “Give us this day our DAILY bread (Matthew 6:11).” He has told us to “seek first” the kingdom of God and our needs will be met (Matthew 6:33). He fed about 2 million people for forty years in the wilderness on a miraculous food called manna that appeared with the dew every morning. He also provided water out of rocks for all those people. In our passage for today, He feeds a crowd of four thousand men (plus the women and children) with seven loaves and a few small fishes. Remarkably, they not only didn’t run out of food but they had enough left over to help out the local food bank.
Can the Lord take care of us in our present circumstances? He certainly can. The difficulty is that we hear of wars and famines in parts of the world where people are dying from starvation. Why doesn’t the Lord take care of these people? I don’t really know, but I wonder if it ever occurred to them to look to the Living God of Heaven for help rather than relying on worthless idols or relying on help from other countries. If they were willing to glorify God when the help came, God might move mountains to help them.
This crowd that was fed had to have people in it that were not really believers in Christ. They likely had come to see the Lord and to hear Him, but generally the crowds are not believers (although there will be a crowd of believers in heaven). Probably many had come to see if He would perform a miracle (and He did). They did not want to miss out on anything that He said or did so they had lingered for three days without planning ahead and bringing food. But the Lord loves His creation. He loves the whole world according to John 3:16. He had compassion on this multitude and would not send them away hungry. They may have come out of curiosity and because there was nothing on TV worth watching, but they went away full having seen the Lord and having had their needs met by Him. I wonder how many of them became “believers” that day. Many of them likely saw the miracle and participated in the eating of the food without really understanding the truth that this was the Messiah and that they should “receive Him” and “believe in Him.” Nevertheless, all who had been with the Lord those three days left full.
I believe that believers in Christ have a special place in the heart of God and I do believe He will take care of His own even in trying times. There may be periods of time when we will wonder why he “waits” with His blessing; but if we look to Him to meet our needs rather than looking to men for our help, I think we will be able to glorify God by being the objects of His care if real trial comes in this country. Our blessing will be such that there will be some left over with which to bless others.
The country may be on the brink of economic disaster (then again it might not). But if disaster is coming, it may be that spiritual revival will come with it as unbelievers see the Living God take care of His own. We do not need to be concerned and distraught because the Lord has promised us eternal life if we trust Him, and He has also told those of us who are His that He will never leave us or forsake us. Hebrews 13:5-6 says, Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU." So we may boldly say: "THE LORD IS MY HELPER; I WILL NOT FEAR. WHAT CAN MAN DO TO ME?"
I personally do not expect to starve no matter what happens in this country. The Lord is going to take care of His own. He may use the government and then again He may not. He may use corporations with a conscience and then again he may not. He may even use religious organizations and churches that make feeding the poor a priority. However, He may have to resort to feeding his own with the ravens and with widows as He did Elijah (1 Kings 17). But He can and will feed those of us who look to Him and not to men for our help.
Bruce Collins