Rest, Sacrifice, Resources

Rest, Sacrifice, Resources

One Sunday, we were privileged at FGA to have brother Saw give the message on Mark Chapter 6:30-44, based on Jesus feeding the 5000.

Just the preceding passage, we saw how the Lord send out his disciples into the villages to preach, taking nothing with them but depending on God to provide for all their needs. The hand of the Lord was with them as it was with Jesus, and they cast out demons and healed many diseases and sicknesses. Tired but triumphant, they returned to the Lord to report these great events. Even at this time, there were so many people coming and going that they did not even have time to eat. And the Lord said to them “Come away with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest”.

Here brother Saw pointed out to us a very important principle that we must understand – i.e. God’s servants are not immune to natural laws. If we step off a high place, we fall because of the law of gravity. If we keep working, we will feel tired because our body cannot keep going indefinitely. We must rest. The point is that there is a time to work, and a time to rest. Therefore, we should not take on so much responsibility that we have no time at all to rest or to take care of our own families.

Here, brother Saw shared with us how he came across a problem in his own household when his son’s grades started dropping because of a weak command of the national language. Being alert of the problem, brother Saw quickly set aside time many nights to teach his son himself. Some advised him “If the boy doesn’t like it, don’t force him, let him do something else”, but brother Saw wisely concluded that he must discipline his son to learn the language because he must learn that sometimes he must do things that he doesn’t like because it’s right. And slowly, his son’s grades improved, but the point was that that he took the time to help his family. The danger lies for many servants of God who serve too much but neglect their families.

The second point is that the strength of our ministry comes from the quiet time that we spend with God. Throughout His ministry, Jesus always took time to be alone with God and that’s where his strength and power came from. Likewise, we too should learn to draw wisdom and strength and power in our ministry from our quiet time with God. When we read the Bible, do not always depend on commentaries and books but seek the Lord and ask what He might be teaching you personally.

Thirdly, we read that when Jesus saw the crowd, He had compassion upon them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, so He began to teach them many things. His teaching came from a heart of compassion, a desire to help the people. That too should be the motive of us when we teach others. All of us are called to be teachers, at home, at work, to new Christians, to unbelievers. However, our teaching must be from a heart of compassion, from a genuine desire for the other person’s best.

Fourthly, we see that the crowd came to Jesus and His disciples at an inconvenient time. It was a time that they wanted to be alone and rest. Sometimes, we are called to serve at very inconvenient times, but therein lies the heart of true service, like King David who said “I will not bring a sacrifice to the Lord that costs me nothing.” However, we see that Jesus did not cancel the time of rest. He postponed it, for after the crowd had eaten, He sent his disciples go on ahead by boat. We too must remember to get our time of rest and quiet time with God, even if it is postponed. In today’s busy lives, and so many commitments, sometimes it means having to sacrifice our hobbies and leisure time, but we must put the most important things first. 

Finally, we see that the disciples were incredulous as to what 5 loaves and 2 fish could possibly do to feed the 5000. We too quite often look down on our resources, giving up before we have even started. The important lesson for us here is to bring what we have to Jesus, and let Him lead us. He is the Master, and knows far more than us.

May the Lord teach us to find times of rest with him, learn to sacrifice like a true servant would, and put faith in God in the resources that He gives us. In Jesus name, Amen.