Our Lord had sent out the twelve on the limited commission of going to the Jews to tell them about the coming Kingdom. They had been given power to heal the sick and to cast out demons (Luke 9:1). When they returned to Him, they told Jesus of all that they had done. He took them away from the multitude to a deserted place on the east shores of the Sea of Galilee. They did not know the lesson He was about to teach them.
The multitudes followed Jesus and the apostles, and Jesus spent hours teaching them about the Kingdom. As the day ended, the disciples came to Jesus and told Him to send the multitude away that they might find food and lodging. How startled these men must have been when Jesus said, “You give them something to eat” (Luke 9:13). With weak faith, they reminded the Lord that it would take at least 200 days’ wages to feed so many. They told Jesus there was a young man who had five barley loaves of bread, two small fish and then added, “But what are they among so many” (John 6:9)?
Think about this for just a minute. They had just returned from days of healing, teaching and casting out demons but were still looking at the world without any faith. Eyes without faith see the world so differently from those with faith. What are the loaves and fish compared to their needs? The real truth is that a child’s lunch and the Lord are no problem at all when He is there.
Is it possible that we react to situations in our lives without realizing that the “insurmountable” problems we are facing are meaningless when the Lord is with us? The storms of life are so immense when we look at them, but faith allows us to look at these storms and understand that the Lord is far greater than all storms.
The Lord has always dealt with His people and purposely used “powerless” individuals to bring glory to Himself. Had God chosen mass armies to deal with the pagan armies all the glory would be given to men, and He would be left out. The land which flowed with milk and honey and giants living in cities with walls which reached heaven could so easily be conquered by “grasshoppers” with the Lord among them (Num. 13). Remember also the Lord’s use of Gideon’s army of 300 and the destruction of the Midianites.
So, as you face the storms of life, look at it through eyes so different from those of men without God. They say, “What are these (loaves and fish) among so many?” Eyes of faith, look not at the loaves and fish, but see them in the hands of Jesus with the hungry multitudes and see the twelve baskets filled with leftovers! “What is the Lord, among so many?”