We welcome you back to Help for Today. We’ve been looking at the feeding of the 5,000. We saw the purpose of ministry is people, but these people have a problem, and that is they all have a great need. So the question we looked at yesterday is where do we find the provision to meet the needs? All of the gospels record the feeding of the 5,000, but only one gospel, the book of John, records the fact that there is a lad here. The disciples went looking for food. They tried to come up with their own resources, and all that they were able to find was a small boy with four loaves and two fishes. People often ask the question, “well, where did this lad come from? Why was he there? Why did he have that lunch that day?” And I think the answer is truly amazing when you think about it, and the fact that the Bible doesn’t give us the answer. God doesn’t tell us where that boy came from, what family he was there. Was he there with friends or was he there with family? What was his intent there? All we know is that there was a lad there who had a small lunch. I think that goes to show us that that boy was there for one reason, because it was appointed by God.

As I read this story, I find the providence of God. As we think about this need to minister to people, the fact that there’s such a great multitude, and that multitude has great needs, and how are we going to meet the needs of that people? We looked yesterday at the thought that we can’t. You and I don’t have the resources, we don’t have the talents, we don’t have the abilities, but God does. And before the beginning of time, God knew that Jesus Christ was going to be on that hillside that day. He knew there was going to be a great multitude, and he appointed, divinely appointed that lad to be there that day. Why? To meet the needs.

Can I remind you, child of God, that as you seek to serve God in your ministry, in your Sunday school, in your bus route, wherever you find yourself, that as you look at yourself and think, “how am I going to meet the needs,” you don’t have the resources. You have to figure it out because God already has. God’s going to be the one to meet the needs. It’s when we yield ourselves to God and say, “God, I can’t do it, God, I’m not able, God, I don’t have the resources, Lord, but I know you do, Lord, will you take what you’ve given me and may I give it back to you? Will you bless it? Will you break it? Will you multiply it? Will you use it?” It is only then that God can do the miraculous. It’s only then that God can do the amazing, why? Because it’s not about you and it’s not about me. It’s about God giving the glory and in order for him to get the glory, it has to be done in such a way where we can’t explain it because it’s not about us.

There is a lad here. Why is that lad there? Because God appointed him to be there. God is the one who will meet the needs of the people.

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Chris Fanara

Chris Fanara, Christian School Principal

Bro. Fanara serves as the Principal of North Valley Baptist Schools. He and his wife, Tabitha, are graduates of NVBS and have been faithfully working in the school for thirteen years.