Vol. 21 No. 10 | March 11, 2019H
You are grappling with a problem that has no apparent solution. You feel like you’re up against a wall with no place to go. God is calling you to do work that feels beyond your reach. And you keep repeating to yourself, “This is impossible. I can’t do this. I don’t know what to do.”
When you find yourself stumped and wondering what to do, let me offer three suggestions based on a story of Jesus from John, chapter six.
Trust that God is aware of your circumstances and already has a plan.
In what appears to be a playful manner, Jesus asks his disciples to feed the thousands of people following Him. The disciples scratched their collective heads trying to think of a way to accomplish a seemingly impossible task.
But Jesus already knew what he was going to do. His request was His way of testing Philip’s faith.
When I find myself in what appears to be an “impossible situation” (as Chuck Swindoll calls them), it helps if I pause long enough to remind myself of a few important facts.
I am not in this alone. God has not abandoned me. He knows exactly what is happening and is already working on a solution…even though I cannot see it.
Reminding myself of these facts doesn’t change my circumstance. But it helps calm my fears and reduce my anxiety.
However, I do still have to remind myself of these truths more than once and remember that God could be testing my faith as well. For this reason, I hang these words on the wall above my desk: “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Take what you have to God and say, “Here’s what I have, Lord.”
One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.” (vss. 8-9)
It seems that God enjoys it when we take seeds of faith to Him to see what He can do. “Lord, I’ve got these words, but I don’t know if they will mean anything to anyone else.” “Lord, all I have is a little money and a burning desire to help people.” “Lord, I’m scared, but I believe You are bigger than my fears.” “Lord, help me please.” “Here’s what I have, Lord.”
Acknowledge that God has been at work in you.
The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. (v. 14)
When you are going through a difficult time, as well as when you finally get through it, I think it’s very important to acknowledge that God was part of it and share what you learn with others. You don’t have to understand what has happened or why it happened the way it did. You just have to have faith that it is and was always a part of His plan.
I’m sure the disciples and Jesus’s 5,000 followers were more than astounded when the bread and fish kept coming in quantities that defied logic. The only “explanation” was that, “…God was at work among them.”
As you go through your week, chances are you will be faced with a situation that you won’t know how to handle. Just remember, God is there with you. Take whatever you are struggling with to Him and say, “This is what I have, Lord.”
And when you experience God working in your life, enjoy it, learn from it, and share it with others to help restore their faith as well.
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