Part 2 of 7
Andy Andrews tells the story of when he was living under a pier at the beach, homeless and alone. One day a man named Jones invited Andy to a feast. He had to scrape by to eat and so a feast was not something he was going to pass up.
When he joined Jones he found that the “feast” was actually Vienna sausages and sardines. They sat down under an oak tree on a high dune with the beach in front of them and a deep blue lagoon behind them.
Jones asked Andy to answer two questions: “What are you eating and where are you eating it?” Andy was a bit confused and somewhat frustrated with the questioning. Finally he answered, “I’m eating Vienna sausages and sardines in the sand.” Jones spent a few minutes talking to Andy about perspective and concluded by saying, “You ate sardines and Vienna sausages in the sand. I dined on surf and turf with an ocean view.”
The disciples could only see sardines and Vienna sausages. The crowd was hungry and they were in a deserted area and didn’t think they had enough bread to feed them. That’s right where Jesus wanted them to be. So he asks, “How many loaves do you have?”
Someone took inventory and they reported, “Seven, and a few small fish.” That’s what they saw. Jesus saw something more. And if you want to gain a bigger perspective, try beginning where Jesus did. Ask the question, “What do you have?”
We often think we have few resources to handle difficult situations, but there is always some small ‘except’ at the end. We undervalue what we have and don’t realize that it can be used to help ourselves. You may think you have nothing, except . . . You may think everything is going horribly, except . . . God has given you something. You just have to see it. “What do you have?”
Then, whatever your answer is, take your answer to Jesus. That’s what the disciples did . . . eventually. They had seen Jesus do some pretty remarkable things. But when faced with a new dilemma they panicked. They looked everywhere but him for help.
You’ve seen Jesus do some pretty remarkable things too, haven’t you? Been in some tough situations before that he brought you through. Maybe not exactly as you thought or hoped, but he did something and you got through it and moved on. And that’s the problem. We move on and sometimes forget what he has done for us.
More importantly, we forget that he loves us. It’s easy to. When we don’t think we have enough or we seem to be facing a pile of problems, it doesn’t feel like he loves us. Someone may have been wondering why Jesus would be with them in the desert and not plan on providing for them. Another may have been complaining. Another worried. But they didn’t come to him. And neither do we.
Could it be that the biggest reason we don’t is we forget that he loves us? Did you notice why Jesus wanted to feed the people? He had “compassion” on them. The word refers to the “seat of love.” When Jesus looked at the crowd of over 4,000 people he was moved to the very seat of his love. He knew they were hungry. He knew they had nothing.
And he’s not unaware of your situation either. Go to the very core of God’s love and you are there. And when you believe that the God of creation is moved to the very seat of his love for you, your perspective will change.
And when it does, even Vienna sausages and sardines can look like a feast.
Written by Rick Brown