Daily Devotional

I have a love-hate relationship with In-N-Out. I absolutely love a double-double with grilled onions, fries light-well, and a Lemon-Up with light ice to drink. But every time I go, the drive-thru line wraps around the block, or you go inside, and it’s nothing but noise and chaos. And to be honest, I’d say that sometimes my life feels like a lunch rush at In-N-Out. Noisy. Chaotic. Times when there is a backlog of emails to respond to, a handful of calls to return, and a task list that continues to grow, and grow, and grow. Everyone seems to want something from me, and now it feels like it could be easier to just focus on myself and ignore everyone else. I can’t be the only one, right? Well, I imagine that the disciples could relate.  

After a significant amount of time spent helping others, the disciples needed rest themselves. Jesus is the one who actually noticed their need for rest because so many people were coming asking for their help that they didn’t even have time to eat. Thousands of people were following them. So Jesus says, “Come to this secret, quiet place so you can rest and recharge.” Imagine heading to your favorite coffee shop or your favorite place to unwind and relax, and you find it packed with people wall-to-wall. Overwhelming, right? That’s exactly what the disciples experienced. On their way to their private getaway with Jesus, people saw where they were headed and went there immediately. So, Jesus, having compassion on the crowd because they were like sheep without a shepherd, began to teach. And when Jesus teaches, He TEACHES! So much so that the Bible says, it grew late.

The disciples were patiently waiting for their time with Jesus, but once it got to a certain point, they asked Jesus to wrap it up and send the people away (Mark 6:35-36). But Jesus saw that they were hungry and used the disciples to feed the five thousand men with two fish and five loaves. And Jesus, being the Master teacher that He is, uses this moment to both meet a need and teach the disciples as well. I think that for several reasons, the disciples felt like they couldn’t fix the crowd’s problem. But at the very least, they should notice the needs of those around them, they should bring the needs of others to the Lord, and let Him take it from there. My encouragement to us is that even when we don’t feel like we can meet the physical needs of those around us, God invites us to be a part of the miracles in someone else’s life simply by noticing their needs and bringing them to Him. 

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.