The Lunch
I heard a lesson recently from John 6 about the Lord feeding lunch to the more than 5 thousand with 5 loaves and 2 fish.
The teacher pointed out that the disciples were thinking only of the material lunch (the fish). “How do we host (feed) these people?” and not of their spiritual lesson (the faith); the need to hear the Lord's teaching. They had forgotten of the wedding in Cana and the other miracles they had just seen the Lord do, and wondered how He would provide for them all.
In contrast – Many of the people there that day were following the Lord because they were thinking ONLY of His miracles. They were not there because they wanted to learn from Him. They just wanted to see a sign, be entertained and hopefully get a free lunch.
The Lesson
I had the thought: How many times do I draw close to the Lord just because I have a need that I want filled, or a problem that I need Him to resolve and yet I don't think about the riches of the spiritual lesson He might be wanting to teach me. I had to pray:
“Lord, help me to come to you at all times,
not just for solutions to my problems but for clarity to see
what you want me to learn in the midst of the “problem” times.”
For more encouragement see River Rocks – Trusting God in Rough Water Times