What Jesus Did! 'Limited Resources?' — Mark 6:37-38

In the previous verses, Jesus' disciples expressed their concern for the crowds following Jesus. Now Jesus challenges them to do the impossible: "You feed them!" At first, the disciples don't get the impossibility of his command. They are still locked into their normal ways of handling need. So Jesus tells them to check their available resources. They find five loaves and two fish. Now they can be certain that the task they face is impossible for them. At one time or another, nearly every one of us is called on to serve others in an impossible situation: during the illness of a family member or in time of a real financial pinch or when we're facing a difficult ministry challenge or in an unfamiliar environment or ... . No matter what the challenge may be, we realize that we cannot accomplish our tasks through our own strength. Jesus wants us to realize exactly where we are: in an impossible situation unless his provision, his grace, his power, his guidance, and his providence carry us through. Jesus wants us to know that our resources are limited ... but his are unlimited.