“When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, He said
to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?”
He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what He
was going to do. John 6:5, 6
When Jesus and Philip looked out at the large crowd what did they see?
Philip saw an impossible situation! In his mind it was an impossible situation!
Jesus saw something different when He looked out at the crowd. He knew exactly what He was going to do. Philip on the other hand saw obstacles and barriers but Jesus wanted to stretch his faith.
I have been meditating on this verse for a couple of days now. It is such a powerful scripture…..
We are like Philip in many ways. There are situations in our lives where we look and think, “impossible”! How am I going to do this or do that? How, how , how……but Jesus already knows what He is going to do!
You may be freaking out because you can’t see a way out or a solution but Jesus sees, He has the solution!
But He won’t just come and sort it out, like Philip He is asking us the same question,
“Where can we buy bread to feed these people?”
He wants to stretch our faith. What was impossible in Philip’s mind was possible in Jesus’s mind! He didn’t see barriers, limitations, roadblocks or anything like that………
As long as there is faith, the impossible does not exist! Jesus wants to stretch our faith! No matter what impossible situation you are facing please know that Jesus has the answer. He wants you to be able to face any situation and know He has the answer!!!! No matter how big, no matter how impossible, He want’s you to know He has the answer. Philip had faith in God but Jesus knew his faith in Him had to grow, it had to be stretched!! I am comforted to know that Jesus wants to stretch my faith! I want my faith to grow……There is so much bad happening around me that the only way to get out of it is to have strong faith in Him! Having strong faith will not erase the situation, instead it will help me walk through it with peace and confidence that He is in control!!! He is so good!
Rolain
kingspeech 
Amen! on point 🙂
Thank you!
“As long as there is faith, the impossible does not exist.” Amen! Sometimes we look so hard for the solution to our problems and circumstances and we forget that the answer to it has been there all along in Jesus. As long as we have Him in our hearts He’ll help us get through anything that comes our way! Thank you for the encouragement Rolain. Have a blessed day!
You welcome Anna! 😃
I have often read the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, but you were the one who drew my attention to the fact that the verse states that Jesus’ explicit intention in that situation was to teach Philip (and the other disciples) faith. And as you said, God does not simply take care of all our problems for us; he lets us see the problem first, realize how impossible it seems to the human mind, and then pray to Him and lay all our trust in His goodness and power.
This was a thought-provoking post, Rolain. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this passage today.
Katrina 🙂
I am glad to hear that Katrina! 😃
God is so good because He wants us to always grow. He will not leave us the same and is always looking for a way to teach us……may our faith be stretched constantly!
God bless you Katrina!
Very powerful insights, Rolain. I especially needed what you wrote near the end. Of how our faith does not erase the situation, but instead help us walk through it with peace and confidence that He is in control. I must ask myself, ‘why does knowing God is in control not keep me in perfect peace?’ In my case, it is because my faith needs continual stretching! Thanks very much!
You welcome Sue. I am glad to hear you got something from this…..
Thanks Rolain for sharing this.. indeed faith without deeds is dead, and how can we do those deeds if we are not in the midst of dilemmas that need solutions?. When troubles come, let faith arise! #Onward.Upward
Thanks Mufudzi! When troubles come let faith arise!
😃