
He didn’t condemn them for being distracted by their growling stomachs. He didn’t belittle them for showing signs of weakness. He didn’t minimize their hunger by comparing it to His own when He fasted for forty days. It wasn’t His desire to see them suffer to prove their devotion.
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In the multiplication miracle of feeding the five thousand, we see that Jesus was happy to give the hungry people as much food as they wanted. They ate until they were satisfied, and there was plenty left over.
By this example, we can rest assured that Jesus is pleased when He is given the opportunity to be generous. He is not stingy or miserly when it comes to providing the necessities of life. He will not withhold the resources needed to fulfill our destinies. We know that He wants us to have everything we need to successfully complete our human journey. However, there are times we may feel uncomfortable asking, for fear our requests might be based upon selfish motives.
As we level up, we learn this is a needless fear. God is a loving Father. He will not give us something that is bad for us. We think back to the days when our children were young, and they asked for candy when it was time for dinner. We didn’t judge or condemn them. We simply said, “No. That’s not good for you,” and then provided them with a healthy option instead. We know that God will do the same for us. He won’t give us anything that will do harm. We trust Him to protect us; sometimes even from ourselves.
We see that during His mission on earth, Jesus never scolded anyone for asking too much or too often. In fact, He stated time and time again, “Just ask. I want to give you what you need. ”
The feeding of the five thousand demonstrated the Father’s heart through the acts and attitudes of His Son. Jesus had compassion on the famished crowd.
He didn’t condemn them for being distracted by their growling stomachs. He didn’t belittle them for showing signs of weakness. He didn’t minimize their hunger by comparing it to His own when He fasted for forty days. It wasn’t His desire to see them suffer to prove their devotion.
They were hungry and He wanted them to be fed. Jesus met their needs abundantly. He provided more than enough. There may have been some who gave up and left early before the miracle arrived. This may account for the enormous number of leftovers His disciples collected after everyone was fed.
We realize it is critically important that we never become one who wanders away, feeling the pressure to fend for ourselves, rather than waiting to see what Jesus is doing.
We know there will be times of waiting. And during those times, we might not have a clear view of what is happening, or how the miracle will unfold, but waiting is part of the process, and we must become willing to put in the time. Knowing Jesus like we do, we can be sure that compassion is His first response.