By Gobel Brockman
It had to have been quite a scene. An estimated crowd of 12 to 14,000 people sitting on a hillside. They had been following Jesus for three days, hanging on His every word. His disciples come up to Him and say, "It's been three days, and we're sure the people are hungry. Send them away to buy some food." Jesus said, "They don't need to leave; YOU feed them." I can just imagine the looks on the disciples faces. I mean, do the math. They've each just been given the task of feeding over 1,000 people, and they don't even have enough to feed themselves.
If you've been a Christian very long I'm sure you've felt that way sometimes. I remember when I felt that God was calling me into ministry. It's said by experts that death is our greatest fear; but what comes in second? Public speaking. I can attest to that. In high school, when I had to give speeches in class, they usually consisted of three words: 'Uhh', 'Ohh', and an occasional 'Ya know'. Now I'm feeling that God is wanting me to get in front of people on a regular basis and talk. That's where I got the title of this week's blog. The thing is, I was right. On my own, I couldn't do it. But over the years I've learned what the disciples learned on that hillside.
Jesus asked them, "What do you have?" They found a little boy who had packed a few pieces of fish & bread. Jesus said, "Bring them to me." He blessed it, broke it, gave it to is disciples, and at that point, they COULD do it. And so could I. And so can you. The answer is in the blessing and the breaking. When we come to Christ, He blesses us. But He also breaks us, which simply means we're brought to the full realization that we don't have what it takes on our own. We can't save ourselves, and we can't accomplish God's will by ourselves.
Is God asking you to do something bigger than you feel possible? It doesn't just have to be ministry. Perhaps He's asking you to forgive someone who's hurt you more than you can put into words. Maybe He wants you to give of your resources and you don't even have enough for yourself. Maybe it IS ministry-related. A Sunday Scool teacher? Working on a visitation team? Whatever the task, I can assure you that on your own, you can't do it. But you aren't on your own. The Bible says that God has promised He "...will never leave us or forsake us..." He also won't ask us to do anything without being there to give us the ability to carry it out. I can attest to that. I now have no issues at all with getting up in front of people and talking. The sermons may not be great, but that's another story for another blog....
