“Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, "Send the crowd
away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place." But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish- unless we are to go and buy food for all these people." For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." And they did so, and had them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.” Luke 9:12-20
Have you had those times when you are frustrated with because of something out of your control? Well, just the other day I had one of those times. The downturn in the economy and dollar plummeting world-wide has affected our lives and ministry. After providing for our living expenses and salary (those cost which are fix and cannot easy be changed) the mission was left with much less than usual to use on ministry related expenses (those which are not fix and can be changed). Our team only received about 40% of the amount it requested. This means we will be able to travel much less next year and that we will be limited in what we can do. So, sufficed to say, I was not happy with the news.
The next day, I was speaking with a brother in Christ and a missionary college in southeast Asia, who when commented on our budgets said, “I guess this is our five loaves and two fish.” This statement stopped me in my tracts. All that frustration and self-pity was gone. For you see, I was reminded of my God. My God came to earth to offer Himself as a sacrifice for my sins. In the process, as He lived a life and taught… the showed us the character of God. When those around him thought it best to send away the people (for you see they saw that it was impractical if not impossible to feed them all) Christ desire to provide for them (for nothing is impractical or impossible for God). Therefore, as a minister of the gospel in a foreign land, I must not trust in my budget to help me spread the gospel to every single community. Why? Because this kind of movement of the gospel is a God-thing. So, whether funds are plentiful or meager we will trust in God and God alone… for next year’s funds and for the lost souls in the Amazon Basin. Glory be to God.