(Aug. 2019)
In the early days of my ministry in Berkeley, CA I was working a job and preaching the gospel at the same time. There came a point where I hadn’t gotten a paycheck in a couple of months (because I worked in real estate), and I was starting to feel serious pressure financially. I prayed and asked God for a miracle since I was a month behind already in rent and had no money for even present bills.
There were a couple of guys I would get together with to pray each week. These guys didn’t belong to my ministry and I didn’t go to their church, but we were brothers in Jesus Christ. One day they asked me if I needed some money. I said, “As a matter of fact, I do!” One brother asked how much I thought I needed and after a minute I said, “I need at least a thousand dollars.” They each wrote me a check that day. As I opened them up, the first was about $700 and the second was a check for $2,000! He told me later that God had spoken to him to give me double whatever I said I needed. God doesn’t miss a thing!
As we look at the Word of God and the story of the multiplication of food, we see that God has been in the miracle business from the beginning. I want you to take some powerful principles away from this so that you may begin to walk into a life of miracles.
John chapter 6:1-14
1 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. 4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. 7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” 8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” 10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
Insufficient Resources
Philip’s response teaches us something about human nature. As we just read, the crowd is massive and the needs far outweigh the food available. You and I will find ourselves in situations and places where our capacity and resources are not enough. As a matter of fact, this was Jesus’ whole purpose. I can just see Jesus with a twinkle in his eye asking Philip how they were going to feed all these people. Philip does what most humans do; he looks to his natural resources. He didn’t realize this was a test… and he just failed it.
This story of the miraculous feeding appears in all four gospels and also happens to be miracle number four out of seven as recorded in John’s gospel. Why is this important? I believe God highlighted this miracle for a very important reason. It is a prototype for us as believers to begin to walk into the miraculous.
So there they are and Philip and the rest of the disciples are in a panic because all they have are five loaves and two small fish. By the way, who brought the small amount of food? It was a lad. It takes the faith of a child to kick start a miracle.
Although the disciples didn’t get it as we often don’t, the good news is that their impossibility became an opportunity for God to work a miracle. Your impossibility qualifies you for a miracle!
The Anatomy of a Miracle
Just as the human body has parts, so does a miracle. There are three parts to the anatomy of a miracle that we see in this story and this applies to every miracle in all of Scripture!
Part 1 – Impossibility
Every miracle begins with a situation far outside the control of humanity. Think about it. Abraham was way too old to have a child. The walls of Jericho were way too high and thick. Lazarus was dead. And 5,000 people were way too many mouths to feed with a couple of tuna sandwiches! As a matter of fact, God will NOT work a miracle as long as there is a human way to take credit for it. This is why he whittled Gideon’s army down to three hundred members against an army of tens of thousands. Miracles give glory to God and only an impossibility qualifies for a miracle.
Part 2 – Faith
The second part to a miracle is to have faith. What is faith? “It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1 It is important to note that one can have faith in a number of things. I have faith in my car every time I get in and turn on the engine. I believe that it is going to work and get me where I need to go safely. If you look at a dollar bill, it will tell you in writing that it is backed by the full “faith and credit” of the US government. Faith is confidence in the source. That the source will do what it is supposed to do. The faith that we are talking about here is faith in The Word of God. In the case of the miraculous feeding, Jesus tells the disciples to have the people sit down, and then he tells them to distribute the food after he had given thanks and broke it. Jesus has to speak to you for you to have faith required for a miracle. He speaks generally in his Word to all of us, but if you want a miracle, the Word of God must become God speaking directly to you!
Part 3 – Action
The final part to receiving a miracle is to take action based on the Word of the Lord you received in faith. Action is the proof of real faith. James tells us that, “Faith without works is dead.” For example, if I say I have faith that my parachute is going to work, but I refuse to jump out of the plane out of fear. What this means is I really don’t have faith. You must jump out of the plane! In the story of the paralytic, Jesus tells the man to, “Rise, take up your mat and walk!” and he does it. It wouldn’t be enough for him to simply listen to Jesus’ words and say he believes him. He must take action based on the Word of the Lord. We see this in the miraculous feeding. The disciples did what Jesus’ told them to and as they distributed the food, the miracle manifested!
I want to encourage you to go through Scripture in the gospels and in the Old Testament, and you will see that these three parts belong to every single miracle in Scripture (where man had a part to play in the working of the miracle.)
Heaven’s Storehouse
In all of Scripture, I cannot find anywhere where Jesus was hurried or worried. Why was this? Because he understood that there is a realm in glory that I like to call “Heaven’s Storehouse.” This is a place where there are no limitations. Where every financial need, every healing need, every idea, all wisdom dwells. There is nothing that cannot be supplied by Heaven’s Storehouse. This storehouse is actually Jesus himself. He is the infinite supply all of humanity longs for. Psalm 135:7 tells us that God, “brings the winds out of his treasuries.” Eph. 3:20 reminds us that, “God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or imagine!” Col. 1:17 reveals that, “He is before all things and in Him all things consist.”
Everything you and I need is provided for in glory. It is found in the person of Jesus Christ and according to the glorious riches of our Father in Heaven and the power of His Spirit. This is why Jesus was never worried… and we shouldn’t be either.
Now make this personal to you. What is your impossibility? What is the Word of the Lord concerning your situation? What is Jesus speaking to you? And now go take action in faith based on what he has said!