A Boxing Match With Five Thousand Hungry Men

Suggested Reading: Matthew 14:13-21

I have always enjoyed the Rocky movies. They don't have the greatest acting or even the greatest plots but they have a central character who is compelling. The characteristic that makes Rocky Rocky is the fact that he never quits. Rocky was not all that skilled as a fighter, though he trained his rear end off. But Rocky was never willing to lay down. Even when beaten to a bloody pulp, Rocky would get up and go another round until he was finally able to find an opening in his increasingly tired opponent. That unwillingness to let being tired, beaten up, or bloody keep him down is what turned Rocky into a champion.

Believe it or not, Rocky had a lot in common with Jesus. In Matthew 14, Jesus had had a grueling schedule and then got the news that John the Baptist had been murdered by Herod. Exhausted, physically and emotionally, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. (Matthew 14:13-14, NLT).  In spite of the fact that he was tired and that he wanted time alone to deal with the emotional toll of John the Baptist's death, Jesus didn't turn away a chance for ministry when it presented itself. And when he took the time to minister, even in his weakened state, God chose to bring about one of Jesus' great miracles. Jesus' compassion led to a time of teaching and then to Jesus' command that the disciples feed all of these people. Jesus, low on energy, low on resources, and needing rest, fed five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fish, even though no one would have faulted Jesus for taking some time off to recover.

Sometimes life gets exhausting. Life can be hard and overwhelming. You may be tired and emotionally drained. But whatever your condition, don't turn away from the opportunities for ministry that God brings directly into your path. Your time of greatest weakness may be the time God chooses to use you in the greatest ways.

Getting Ready to Swing

Suggested Reading: Matthew 14:21-21

Something I used to do on occasion that I really haven't had much time for recently is go to a batting cage. As much as I enjoy baseball, most of the time I have to settle for listening to games while I am attempting to accomplish something else rather than actually getting to play. But the thing about a batting cage is, when you put your money or token or code into the machine, you better be ready to swing the bat. If you ask for the ball, you get the ball. You don't have a lot of time to stretch and take practice swings. Once you give the machine your money, you had better be ready to start swinging. You had better be ready to get what you're asking for.

In Matthew 14, we find the familiar story of Jesus feeding 5,000 men plus their families with just five loaves of bread a couple fish. A detail that often gets overlooked is found in verse 19. The disciples report that they only have a small amount of food. Jesus tells them to bring the food to him and then "He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass" (HCSB). At that point, I'm sure the disciples must have thought that he was crazy. All he had was a few loaves and fishes and he commanded five thousand men with their families to sit down and get ready to eat! What in the world was Jesus doing? Jesus was getting ready to swing before he put his money in the batting cage.

Jesus knew what he was going to do. He knew the miracle he was asking for and which would surely come, and he prepared for it. He acted as if he already had the food on hand and was simply distributing it. Many times throughout scripture we see this same M.O.. Ten lepers came to Jesus to be healed and he instructed them to go show themselves to the priests (who could verify their healing) but they weren't healed until they actually headed on their way to the priests (Luke 17:11-19). Elijah asked a woman who had just enough to feed herself and her son to first make a meal for him and that God would provide for her, but it wasn't until she actually made Elijah's meal that she could watch God keep her containers from emptying out. (1 Kings 17:8-16)

Quite often we ask God to provide, we ask God to do big things in our lives, but then we go on living as if nothing has changed. Instead, when we ask God to provide, to meet a need, to do something big in our lives, we should demonstrate the faith to live like God has already provided, we should prepare to receive what God is going to send our way. If we are praying that God will send us someone to share our lives with, we should be preparing ourselves to be the most stable, mature and godly persons possible so we are ready for their appearance. If we are asking God to send young families to our churches, we should prepare our facilities and our classes for them so that we are ready to welcome them and send the right messages when they come. If we are praying that God will bless us financially, we should be making sure that our financial house is in order so that we are ready to handle that blessing well.

Part of having faith is preparing to receive the things that we are praying for. If we don't, it's like trying to stretch after putting your money in the batting cage--we may miss it entirely or, worse, get hit in the head.