God Will Wait on You Before the Miracle

“By this time it was late in the day, so His disciples came to Him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But He answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to Him, ‘That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?’” (Mark 6:35-37 NIV)

In Mark 6, Jesus waited until the disciples got concerned about the situation before He did anything to address it.

Maybe you’re having a problem in your marriage or your finances. God sees the problem, and He recognizes it. But He waits on you to get concerned and accept responsibility for it before He does anything about it.

Like the disciples, there are three common reactions that people have toward problems.

1) We procrastinate.
“By this time it was late in the day” (verse 35). The disciples put off the problem until the end of the day. They did nothing, and Jesus waited on them.

2) We pass the buck.
“Send the people away” (verse 36). Basically the disciples were saying, “It’s not our problem. If they’re hungry, let them go find their own food.”

3) We worry about it.
“That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” (verse 37) The disciples’ anxiety went into overdrive, and they started worrying.

Worrying is the opposite of faith. It never solves anything. It only makes problems worse. God wants you to show Him that you accept responsibility and want Him to provide the miracle you need.

Talk It Over
- What responsibility do you need to accept for the problem that you want God to address?
- What have you put off doing that could contribute to God’s miracle in your life?

~ Written by: Rick Warren ~
~ Modified by: Oleg Fabyanchuk ~

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