Most times before I go to bed, I turn on the audio Bible to read, and I always fall asleep listening to the Word of God. No… I’m not super spiritual, I just find that when I listen to the Word of God, it calms me and helps me to fall asleep peacefully. So last night, as I listened to Mark 6 (NIV) being read, I couldn’t help but hearing the words, “You feed them” from verse 37 echoing in my head. I fell asleep repeating them and woke up muttering the same words. From my experience, I knew that this meant something; God was speaking and it was time to listen.
“You feed them,” is what Jesus told his disciples one late afternoon after the people had followed Him all day… and nobody – not even Jesus or the disciples – had eaten anything all day because they did not have time to. In fact, Jesus and the disciples were so tired from all the ministry they were doing that Jesus had told them, “let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile,” (Mark 6:31 NIV). I know I’m not out on a limb here when I say that sometimes, I feel like I’ve done so much that I would like to go off to a quiet place to take a break – can I get an amen? Truth is, we all feel that way sometimes, tired… worn out… needing rest… and Jesus and the disciples were no different. But no sooner they went out on a boat to go find a quiet spot, the crowd always kept following. What do you do when the crowd keeps following you even when you’re exhausted?
In Jesus’s exhaustion, He demonstrated compassion; He told the disciples that the people were like “sheep without a shepherd,” so He began to teach them many things (Mark 6: 34 NIV). Can you and I do that today, even when we’re exhausted? Can we have compassion when the crowd keeps coming especially when we want to go find a quiet place and rest? Can our compassion lead us beyond our own hunger and tiredness to continue helping others who need a shepherd? We can… we should… and we must. If we are going to learn to be like Jesus, we must have compassion, and now is a very good time to start. Our world is short in demonstrating compassion, yet tired as we are, we must become compassionate examples to the world and light the way with God’s truth.
Hungrily, the people had followed Jesus out to a remote location… it was getting late and they had taken no food… there was no food truck, no Popeyes, McDonald’s, KFC or Tastee’s Patties shop (you get the idea 😃); there was nowhere for the people to get food without leaving Jesus to go to “nearby farms and villages” where they could “buy something to eat,” (Mark 6:36 NIV) – besides, who knows if they had even budgeted to buy food that day? Whether or not they had budgeted, that was what the disciples suggested… send them away to buy food; it is always an easier option to send people away when we think that we do not have what they need or what it takes to help them, especially when we ourselves are tired and hungry. Despite the fact that they were the ones who chose not to take food with them, Jesus replied, “You feed them” (Mark 6:37 NIV).
I think the disciples’ response to this statement was classic, “with what? We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” (Mark 6:37 NIV). I can very well imagine some of the disciples sighing from being tired, rolling their eyes, or knitting their brows at Jesus’s response, but this was a very logical question for them to ask Him. Where on earth would the money come from? Have you ever asked Jesus a similar question like this when He tells you to do what seems like the impossible? Maybe you’re like, “really, Jesus? With what?” It may not be a “with what,” but a “how do you expect me to?” or maybe a, “nope, ain’t gonna happen, Jesus.” Whatever your response is to these types of directives, the disciples could relate, and if they were everywhere with Jesus and had to ask “with what,” imagine us?
There is good news: it’s ok to ask Jesus “with what”; it’s ok to tell Him that you don’t see how. He already knows with what, and He already has a plan! So… what crowd keeps following you? “You feed them!” Tired or hungry… no matter what it takes, no matter how unequipped you feel, no matter if the crowd keeps coming, “You feed them!” Look to the hills where our help comes from! Pray for strength and persevere because your reward will be great, and you will have lots of baskets leftover! Our God is no man’s debtor! “You feed them,” and know that Jesus already knows with what!
Keisha-Marie