Desolate of Resources

In Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcey, the romantic interest of main character Elizabeth Bennet, says, “Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.” As Christ followers, we are to have true humility. It is all too easy for us to publicly rejoice in an accomplishment as the Lord’s work, while subtly claiming most of the credit for ourselves.

In today’s passage, Jesus sent out the apostles with His power, and they were successful in casting out demons and healing the sick. But somewhere between their commissioning and their return to Jesus they began to take credit for this work, thinking their own power had accomplished the tasks. The feeding of the 5,000 taught them to think otherwise. In what Mark calls “a quiet place” (v. 31), “a solitary place” (v. 32), and “a remote place” (v. 35), the disciples found themselves in a dilemma. How would they feed the 5,000?

Quickly they learned that Jesus did not need to send the people away or run to the market. Jesus had the ability to shepherd the people with compassionate care, no matter how big or how small their need was. In His power, there was enough to feed all the men, women, and children present and have twelve baskets full of leftover food! Unlike the disciples, Jesus’ power was more than sufficient.

The Lord provides desolate times of ministry to remind us that our power to serve comes from Him alone. Dry periods of devotions, a sense of staleness in worship, or the departure of ministry partners remove any thoughts of the sufficiency of our own strength to do His will. He deserves every ounce of credit for any accomplishment and we should ascribe all power to Him.

Pray with Us

Please include in your prayers today Moody’s chief financial officer, Ken Heulitt. On behalf of the whole Institute, he thanks the Moody family for your friendship and faithful support of Moody’s ministry. You make this ministry possible!

BY Dr. Eric C. Redmond

Dr. Eric C. Redmond serves as a professor of Bible at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and as associate pastor of adult ministries at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Ill. He is married to Pam and they have five children. He is the author of Say It!  Celebrating Expository Preaching in the African American Tradition (Moody Publishers), Where Are All the Brothers? Straight Answers to Men's’ Questions about the Church (Crossway), a commentary on Jonah in the Christ-Centered Exposition Series (B&H Publishers), and a study guide on Ephesians in the Knowing the Bible series (Crossway).