God Provides

God Provides

Read: Matthew 14:15-21

“They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

Matthew 14:16

“Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity of helping and saving.”

—Matthew Henry

IN WORD The disciples had not even considered that Jesus might be able to meet the needs of so many. More than five thousand people were gathered to hear Him and to receive healing from Him. As evening approached and people began to grow hungry, the disciples urged the incarnate Provider to send people away to buy food. The same God who had poured manna from heaven for millions in the wilderness was now being encouraged to send people off to find their own provision. And He could have done so; there were villages nearby (v. 15). But He did not. They needed to know that He is the Provider, the God of deserted places.

We tend to see our need as either too large to even ask God to handle or too small for Him to be concerned with. We are forgetful. Like the disciples, we must be reminded of the God of history. He is the Provider who clothes the lilies and who sustained an entire generation with water and food in a barren wilderness. Too small for God to address? He is the God of five loaves and two fish. Too large? He is the Creator and Sustainer of all that is—is anything too difficult for Him?

IN DEED What is your need? Whatever it is, it is entirely God’s concern. He may instruct you in it (“You give them something to eat”), and the obedience is yours to carry out; but the provision is His. When given the opportunity to stress self-sufficiency or dependence on God, Jesus chose the latter. Let neither the enemy nor your own limited vision talk you out of dependence on Him. Contrary to the voices in our heads, no need is too small, and none is too large. He is the God of compassion (v. 14) and the God of abundance (v. 20), and best of all, He is our Father.