Articles
Facing Obstacles with Faith
Mankind is fascinated with superheroes because they can achieve the impossible. However, God has power that is even stronger than the greatest superhero imaginable. By believing in God and relying on His divine power, His children are able to conquer the impossibly difficult. As God’s nemesis, Satan uses the anxieties of the world to generate doubts and distract His children from Him.
In Mark 6:30-44, the disciples felt doubt while trying to feed a crowd of 5,000 people as Jesus had commanded. Mark 6:36-38 , “Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ And they said to him, ‘Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?’” When Jesus told His disciples to feed the crowd they were stunned by the seemingly impossible task Jesus had given them. Even if the disciples had 200 denarii with them to feed the crowd of 5,000, each person would have only received a tiny portion. Jesus responded to their question by saying, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” Then, the disciples reported that there was only 5 loaves and 2 fish.
After hearing this report Jesus commanded everyone to sit in groups of 100 and 50 people on the grass. Then Mark 6:41-43 says, “And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.” Before feeding the crowd, Jesus turned to God in prayer. By relying on His power, Jesus fed the whole crowd abundantly. With their divine power, Jesus and God took on the impossible responsibility of feeding the crowd. Meanwhile, they tasked the disciples with physically finding the bread and fish. A job that they could easily achieve.
The solution to accomplishing the difficult task of feeding the crowd was always right in front of the disciples. They still had their own part to play, but the impossible was only able to be achieved by relying on God and His power. As God’s children each one of us are His disciples and turning to Him is the only way that the impossible can be achieved in our life. Philippians 4:6-9 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Sometimes difficulties are going to want to stun us and create a hopeless situation. However, God is always available to be the solution for His children because there is no problem that He cannot solve. How often do you allowing difficulties distract you from God and His delivering power?
