Impossible!

I had one of those “read this a thousand times and it still gets me” kind of moments this morning. It came from a couple of verses in John. Let me share them.

Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. John 6:5-6

I love these verses, but they also makes me bristle a bit.

I love them because they offer a beautiful reminder that our Savior has everything under control. Everything. Even the things we cannot seem to figure out a solution for. In this familiar passage, Philip could not even comprehend a solution. I can just see the mental wheels turning. Even if we had enough money, where would we find vendors who could provide the massive amount of food we need? But, that's not a problem because the money's not there in the first place. There are no other options!

Then Jesus presents the “other option” - His power. He takes a small amount of food and miraculously creates enough to feed the masses and have leftovers.

There is always a God-sized option. Always. I can't always see it, and I still doubt more times than I rest in belief. But the truth is that it's always there. It's not always as supernatural as the feeding of the 5,000. But it is just as miraculous, even if God uses a practical method I haven't considered or imagined.

Yes, I love that reminder.

But then there's the bristling. You see, I'm just like Philip. Before Jesus asked Philip the question, the disciple probably wasn't even thinking about feeding the people. There are certain things that our minds reject almost before we consider them. Why? Because they're impossible. This was one of those situations. The people would need to eat, yes, but that wasn't even on Philip's radar. At most, he thought only of their small group and how they would eat. Then Jesus asked about everyone. Jesus brought the problem onto Philip's radar. An impossible problem.

I would love to just go through life with the impossible problems never, ever hitting my radar. But, the Lord has a way of putting them before me. Why? For the same reason He put this one before Philip. He puts it there to test me, because He Himself already knows what He's going to do.

How will I respond? In all honesty, I question Him just like Philip did.

I love that Jesus responds to me the same way He did to Philip. He steps in and does what He already planned to do. His action is not based on my struggle to believe. His action is based on His will, and the completion of His will increases my faith. Little by little, I learn to question less and trust more. I learn to not say, “It's impossible!” I learn instead to say, “I don't have a clue, Lord. Your plan goes beyond anything I can conjure up in my own imagination. So, just show me what to do to be a part of Your plan!”

Yes, I still bristle. But I also have to admit that, ultimately, I love this part of it, too. It grows me. It strengthens me. And it reminds me that He has a plan. That's a very, very good thing.