Mark 6:35-37a

Mark 6:35-37a – By this time it was late in the day, so Jesus disciples came to Him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it is already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But He answered them, “You give them something to eat.”

In this story we see Jesus had been teaching for quite a while. Since they were out in the middle of nowhere, nobody had eaten. A miracle was about to happen, but nobody knew it yet. In order for a miracle to take place there has to first be a need; and more than that someone has to recognize that need.

In this situation we see the disciples are the ones who see the need. They saw that the people needed to eat. In reality they probably started getting hungry first and then realized no one else had eaten either. You can tell that they had been thinking about it and talking amongst themselves already, because they already had a plan to fix the problem.

At this time they decide it was important enough to interrupt Jesus’ teaching to tell Him the problem at hand. “It is getting late and the people are hungry,’ they tell Jesus. Then they proceed to tell Jesus how they should handle the situation, “send them away so they can get something to eat.”

Jesus response catches them off guard. It is not what they expected. “You give them something to eat,” He says. They try to put it off on the people to take care of the present need, but Jesus turns it to them and wants them to fill the need. As the story continues we see how Jesus worked through the disciples to feed the people. A miracle happens and everyone gets fed.

There are many times when we act as the disciples did in this situation. We see a need and we pray to God about it. Sometimes we go as far as telling Him how we think it should be fixed. What we aren't prepared for is when He tells us, “You meet the need.”

Sometimes prayer is all we are called to do, but then there are times when you are the one God wants to use to meet the need. This is particularly true when the need you see is in someone else’s life. Be ready to be the miracle to someone.