Matthew 15:33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

It is rather comforting to me that the 12 disciples were so slow to learn, because that means there’s hope for me! It seems to have been a matter of weeks at most since Jesus had fed an even larger crowd from even less, but the disciples were still thinking in “practical” terms. Practical thinking isn’t bad, and generally it’s quite desirable, but it becomes a problem when it denies room for faith. Actually, it can be difficult to keep the right balance of being level-headed while trusting an infinite God. We tend either to imagine God is going to rubber stamp whatever we dream up, or deny that God can work far beyond what we could imagine in our own strength and ability. God does not honor presumption, but He desires and honors faith. We have trouble telling the difference sometimes! We need to be humble in asking God what He wants to do, but when He makes that clear to us, we need to have full assurance that it is going to happen. However, even then we need to give Him permission to do it His way, rather than insist He do it our way. Faith can seem simple, even simplistic, on the surface, but there is actually such depth to it that we do not grasp it all for as long as we inhabit these bodies.

I am at times amazed, or at least disappointed, at my own lack of faith. As many years as I’ve walked with the Lord, as much as I’ve seen Him do in my own life and in those around me, I still get anxious at times. I still try to figure out just how He is going to do what He has promised, and I get worked up over timing. Sometimes I wonder how I can encourage others in faith when my own seems so weak! However, even here God’s grace is sufficient, and as Paul discovered, when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10) I am not to be satisfied with my current level of faith, but neither am I to berate myself, much less despair. God is able to use even such a one as I am for His glory. That is perhaps the greatest miracle!

Father, thank You again for Your grace. Help me trust You without being presumptuous or irresponsible, being firm in faith without being pie-in-the-sky. Help me deal with the sometimes harsh realities of life without losing the awareness and conviction that You are above and greater than it all. And help me give You thanks and praise for it all, even before I see Your answers. Thank You. Hallelujah!