Nameless and Unknown

You will find in doing God’s will that often there will be no human recognition for being obedient to the Almighty’s request. You will enter in to complete your divine task, and then quickly vanish like the morning fog. (James 4:14)

The finest scriptural example of the above is Jesus feeding of the five thousand people found in biblical passages Matthew 14:13-18, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-15, and John 6:1-15.

The account goes as follows Jesus (and His disciples) left by boat to arrive at the countryside of the city known as “Bethsaida”* for a solitary time to rest. (Jesus may have been emotionally recuperating from the death of His family member, John the Baptist, from a beheading by King Herod.)**

Like the paparazzi with a famous movie star, over ten to fifteen thousand men, women, and children had figured out Jesus location on the far shore of the Sea of Galilee.  (It was also known locally as the Sea of Tiberias.) It was the time of the Feast of the Passover.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, had compassion for these helpless people, His sheep. He could not leave the many (physically or emotionally) ill individuals not healed, or uninformed about how God’s kingdom truly worked.

Hours later (when dinner time would be appropriate), the disciples wanted to send this large mass of people away to get something to eat. (The reason for sending the multitude away was this was an isolated location, and it was late in the day).

Possibly, Jesus could see their exhaustion, and wanted them to be fed there instead of leaving (and possibly never returning).

Upon this daunting task, the disciple, Philip, let Jesus know it wasn’t practical (or possible) to try to feed this many individuals. (Who could tell if enough food existed in neighboring towns to meet the need?) Philip was sure that not even eight months worth of wages could even start to pay for the food rations that would be needed.

Jesus knew the wonder that was about to happen. Jesus was made aware that a young boy (specifically unidentified in scripture) had five small barley loaves and two small fish possibly (smartly assembled in a small container by a loving parent for this adventure).

To prepare for dinner, Jesus had the people sit down in the vast grassy area in orderly groups of fifty and a hundred. He blessed the food (looking up to Heaven), and then divided it up into small pieces.

The disciples distributed the bottomless supply of food to the crowd. Everyone there ate until they were completely satisfied. The disciples also gathered twelve baskets of bread pieces from the ground. (Nothing was wasted.)

Reading this familiar narrative (from my childhood in church), my desperate longing is to be useful to the Heavenly Father while I’m alive. Getting credit for accomplishing His purpose (whatever it might be) is of no significance to me. I want to remain spiritually active as long as I have breath in my lungs. What are your emotions on this topic?

Psalm 119: 124,132 (MSG) makes this touching request: “Let your love dictate how you deal with me; teach me from your textbook on life. Turn my way; look kindly on me, as you always do to those who personally love You.”

My actions to wife and daughter may not always strongly demonstrate my love to God. (The Almighty always knows my true intention.) In my time of need, I want to know that the Heavenly Father is there to do the miraculous (whenever and wherever that needs to happen).

The question for you is do you have faith in to the Heavenly Father when you can’t see how it’s all going to work out in the end? Can you give up control to God to gain what is right for you? (Psalm 60:11-12)

*This was an unrepentant city Jesus denounced for its sinfulness. (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13) The miracle of Jesus walking on the water occurred somewhere close to this city. (Mark 6:45-51) Jesus healed a blind man here. (Mark 8:22-30) This was the hometown of disciples, Philip, Andrew, and Peter. (John 1:44, 12:21)

**Luke 1:36-38, 41, 62-63, Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:7-9, John 11:1-44