God and a Fish Sandwich

God and a Fish Sandwich
July 27, 2009
14:17 "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish . . ."

There is nothing really miraculous about a fish sandwich, that is, unless the Lord needs to be involved. Recall the feeding of the 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. There were 5,000 people sitting on a hillside, listening to the Word of God, and they needed to eat. Taking into account the assets they had on hand, all that was volunteered to be spread among so many were five loaves of bread and two fish. If given some bread and a fish, the logical thing to do would be to make a fish sandwich. That's what I would do. You and I would make a fish sandwich (however appealing it may or may not sound). But for some reason, God doesn't look at the logical solutions to the problems of life. God does not make His decisions by following the logic of ANY human, especially me, it seem s, or you.

God delights in making miracles, not fish sandwiches. He delights in making miracles when He can get the credit, as everything in the world is supposed to point to Him, allowing worship and honor to be given to God and not the situation. If someone else could take credit for a situation, then it wouldn't be a miracle, it would be a commonplace event. No, miracles require God and His action. Miracles do not require human intervention and, in fact, are hindered when man tries to add his own help or advice. If 5,000 people needed to eat, you and I would try to make a fish sandwich; God would multiply the impossible, making it a miracle. When miracles happen, they happen outside the realm of natural thinking, especially natural concepts of what should and could occur. Your imagination cannot even begin to fathom the miracles that God could perform in any specific situation.

While we all know that God can perform miracles however He deems appropriate, it doesn't stop us from pretending to advise Him on how best to make them occur. We, in our natural thinking, see our limited resources and begin to imagine how God can make fish sandwiches, because that's what we would do. Stop that, Christian. Your situation may require a miracle, but pretending to know how to make that miracle happen is akin to worshipping the miracle itself and not the Maker of the miracle. God wants you to need Him and His ability to perform miracles in your life, but God does not want you to need Him only because of His ability to perform miracles for you. It is time to stop worshipping the idea of your miracle for your situation and start worshipping God; otherwise He has no reason to perform a miracle.

There is no doubt that everyone reading this needs a miracle in their lives, something that can only be done by the Supreme Deity, the Lord God Almighty, the Maker of the Heavens and the Earth. But the miracle you are looking for will probably not happen how you imagine. In fact, I can almost guarantee that if you're imagining it, it won't happen that way, as God delights in making miracles, not in making your dreams come true. When you come to the end of your thinking and imagination, you come to the beginning of what God can do. Stop dreaming of fish sandwiches and start dreaming God. Stop worshiping fish sandwiches and start worshipping God. Your miracle is sitting in His hands right now and He knows how best to deliver that and make it happen. Simply be willing to give the Lord all your assets on hand and allow Him to do what He does best, make miracles. After all, God's best abilities do not stop at sandwiches.

1. What miracle do you need in your life?
2. How are you advising God to best meet that miracle?
3. How can you start worshipping God and stop worshipping your miracle?

Add. Scriptures for Study: Ps 77:14, Ps 106:36, Is 44:17, Matt 13:58, Mk 6:41, Lk 9:14, Gal 3:5, Heb 2:4