[Jesus] broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterwards, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.
Matthew 15:36b-37 NLT
I often think that the story of Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the crowd misses what to me is an essential point. This is that each person “ate as much as they wanted”. Just like my physical hunger, I like to eat every day to satisfy its demands. Equally, I want to discover Jesus in each day and satisfy my spiritual hunger, although such hunger may be expressed in unusual ways.
If I’m honest, I have had to significantly readjust my goals in life. I am not free just to pursue what I want since along the way I’ve made commitments to others, which I have chosen not to abandon. While I have enjoyed successes, I’ve also encountered failures and setbacks. The whole of life is much less determined by what I experience as how I choose to respond to such experiences. Deciding upon those responses makes a great difference to my perspective on life.
The problem with simply seeing something as a miracle is that we can fail to see the lesson Jesus is teaching us. We can develop a naïve approach that in an instant God addresses my felt need. While this is sometimes our experience, my view is that as we mature and seek to deepen our encounter with God, we are invited to work a little harder at discerning God’s presence and therefore discovering God’s purpose in our life. God promises that we can encounter him in every circumstance.
As in all relationships, growth emerges through struggle and the choices you make during that struggle. Good choices do not always lead to an easier situation. Yet, good choices can only ever deepen your friendship with God.
While pilgrimage is a great event, it will prove demanding upon me and require that I make serious choices along its path. Its benefits are hard-won and never instant.
QUESTION
What struggles have you emerged from, having made good choices?
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me enough to want to discipline me and through the hard times, for me to grow and mature.
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