Miraculous God

In July I shared a post about Living in the Miraculous. Today is a follow up sermon from that same series from Gateway Church.

The feeding of 5,000 in the gospels is a perfect story when reflecting on the miracles of Jesus. If you have never heard it, you can read John 6 below, but there were 5,000 men who needed to be fed. Jesus performed a miracle by feeding all of them using 2 fish and 5 loaves.

Jesus soon saw a great crowd of people climbing the hill, looking for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Philip, where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “It would take a small fortune to feed them!” Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” Tell everyone to sit down,”Jesus ordered. So all of them — the men alone numbered five thousand — sat down on the grassy slopes. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and passed them out to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate until they were full. “Now gather the leftovers,” Jesus told his disciples, “so that nothing is wasted.” John 6:5-12

In the above verses, Jesus tests Philip and Philip gets frustrated because he looks at the situation from a natural viewpoint. Isn’t that we so often do? Focus so much on our current circumstance that we completely miss what the Lord is trying to do. What can we take away from the story of the 5,000?

1. Look Beyond the Natural – God is the God of the impossible. The choice of how we perceive our circumstances is up to us and affects how we respond. Will you allow the fact that the circumstance seems impossible to shape your situation or the fact that you have a God who can make all things possible shape your situation? God wants us to view things through His perspective, not through our circumstances. Instead of letting the enemy remind you how impossible your situation is, remind him you have the God of the impossible on your side. Greater are the powers on your side than against you.

2. Bring What You Have –  God doesn’t ask us to bring Him what we don’t have, He asks us to come confidently with what we do have. He wants us to bring our inadequacies to Him. He uses the inadequate and extremely flawed people, which is every one of us. God doesn’t want to do miracles alone, but wants us to partner up with Him to experience the miraculous. None of us can accomplish in the natural what God wants us to accomplish in the supernatural through us. God takes what we do have and multiples it to be more than enough.

3. Choose to Obey – God asks for us to obey Him in order for us to participate with Him in the miraculous. When we obey Him we are stepping out in faith based on what He has said. Without obedience, it’s impossible to experience the miraculous. How often do we ask for something, but leave the door closed? Make sure you allow yourself to be in a position to receive what He has for you.

Don’t let your past disappointments you have experienced cause you to give up hope. Keep fixing your eyes on Him, look beyond your circumstances, bring what you have, and obey what He is telling you to do. The miraculous is waiting for you.