He Can.

While not trying to take a bloggy-break, that's what I wound up doing:o). I am very tired right now (courtesy of talking with a friend in the church parking lot until 3 AM in the morning.... yeah... anyway:D), so I really don't know how blogging would have fit into this past week anyway;o). But one thing that I did want to post from last Sunday was the Sunday morning service.

Pastor was preaching from Mark 6 about the events of the day the 5,000 men were fed. There were so many gems in this precious passage that it would take me quite a bit of time to share them all with you! So, in true "Anne-style", I'll put down the highlights for me and encourage you to go read the passage:o).

• When Jesus saw much people (v. 34), He was moved with compassion for the multitude and began to teach them many things.
• When the disciples saw the multitude, they said to Jesus, "Send them away" (v. 35-36).
• The disciples didn't ask Jesus, they told Him to send them away. (Why, oh why, do I have the feeling that Peter was at the front of the disciples urging Jesus to send them away?)
• Jesus told the disciples to sit the men down in an organized way. These disciples did so, even though I'm sure they were wondering why they were seating them in groups of fifty and a hundred (v. 40).
• Jesus took the five loaves and two fishes and divided it up amongst the disciples. The food didn't multiply until the disciples (by faith!) began to hand out the food to the people (v. 41).
• The miracle of the loaves was quickly forgotten and not considered because their hearts were hardened (v. 52).

Then this past Sunday the title of the message was "Lesson 1 - Take 2". Pastor preached from the parallel passage in Matthew 14, but this time he approached it a little differently. He talked about the feeding of the 5,000 again and mentioned that as the disciples passed out the food, they were probably thinking, "look at what I'm doing! I'm providing for all these people!" Pastor' point was that the disciples got self-sufficient.

Ow.

That word resounded in my mind: self-sufficient. As I tried to swallow the pill of conviction over being self-sufficient, my mind drifted in the direction of this upcoming Thailand trip and how God provided two-thirds of the money for me. But then the thought hit me: I've been trying to figure out how I can pay for the rest of this trip, because I mean, God started me out (which was awfully nice of Him!) and now He doesn't need to worry and bother with the rest of the money because, well... I can do it!!! (By the way, that was said tongue-very-firmly-planted-in-cheek!). Whether my need is $5000.00 or just a dollar, I. can't. do. it. on. my. own.

I can't... But He can!

"Wait for God's time to bring it round and He will do it without any heartbreak or disappointment."

~Oswald Chambers~