Once there was a turkey farmer who was always trying to perfect a way to breed a better turkey. All the members of his family enjoyed turkey legs, and there was never enough for everyone. But after several frustrating attempts, the farmer told his friends at the general store, “Well I finally did it! I bred a turkey that has 6 legs!”
They asked the farmer how it tasted, to which the farmer replied, “I don’t know. I never could catch the darn thing!” (www.SermonCentral.com)
Life is like that sometimes. It’s full of frustrations; and even when we do succeed, it’s often more than we can handle. This is especially true when we’re serving the Lord, because He asks us to do impossible things. The Lord asks us to do things that are way beyond our ability to accomplish, things like caring for the poor, loving an enemy, or making disciples of all nations.
Howard Hendricks once said, “Living the Christian life is not hard; it’s impossible!” So what do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed? What do you do when the task ahead seems unattainable? What do you do when life gets to be more than you can handle?
Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Mark 6, Mark 6, where Jesus asks His disciples to do some impossible things.
Mark 6:30-31 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (NIV)
The disciples here are being overwhelmed by ministry demands. They’re so busy they don’t even have time to eat. On top of that, they’ve just returned from an intense time of ministry, having traveled to many of the Galilean towns, and they’re exhausted. So Jesus invites them to take a break. He provides them an opportunity for rest.
Mark 6:32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. (NIV)
In Mark 1, we saw Jesus going away to a “solitary place” on several occasions when ministry demands became overwhelming (Mark 1:12,35,45). Now, He brings his disciples with Him so that they too might experience the benefits of rest. They are depending on Jesus to give them the rest they need, and we need to do the same thing. When life and ministry get overwhelming, we must…
TRUST JESUS TO PROVIDE REST.
We must answer His invitation to “come apart” with him for a while. I like the way Vance Havner once put it: “If you don’t come apart and rest, you will come apart.”
According to an ancient Greek legend, a man in Athens noticed the great philosopher, Aesop, playing marbles some little boys. He laughed at Aesop and asked him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.
Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to this critical Athenian, “Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bow implies.”
The man looked at it for several moments but had no answer for the riddle. Aesop then explained, “If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it.” (Our Daily Bread, June 6, 1994)
Now, that’s the way it is with each and every one of us! We must take the time to rest on a regular basis, or we will break. We must loosen the bow string every once in a while, so we can be fit for the Master’s use. That’s why life and ministry get so overwhelming at times. It’s because we don’t always get the rest we need.
God established the pattern when he created the world. He worked six days and rested one. Jesus set the example when he ministered on this earth. He periodically withdrew to a solitary place and He invites His followers to do the same.
Jonathan Tunrbough of Garner, North Carolina, talks about the time when his mother was driving him and his sisters to school and she was pulled over by a policeman for speeding. After their little visit with the officer, they took off again, and his mother was very careful to stay under the speed limit. A few minutes had passed, and they started hearing a strange noise coming from the car.
“What's that noise?” Jonathan’s mother asked.
Laughing, he replied, “That's the sound of slow. We've never heard it before!” (Jonathan Tunrbough, Garner, NC, Christian Reader, “Lite Fare”; www.PreachingToday.com)
There are some of us who need to hear “the sound of slow.” We need to stop speeding through life and slow down every once in a while before we crash and burn. When life and ministry seem overwhelming, 1st of all, we need to trust Jesus to provide rest. 2nd, we need to…
TRUST JESUS TO PROVIDE RESOURCES TOO.
We need to depend on Christ to supply all that we need to do all that he asks us to do. We need to give the Lord what little we have, relying on him to use us for his glory. That’s what his disciples had to learn. They were ready for a vacation.
Mark 6:33-36 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. 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 they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” (NIV)
They were exhausted at the end of a long day. They had nothing left of themselves to give, so they ask Jesus to get rid of the people, supposedly so the people can get something to eat.
Mark 6:37a But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
Jesus is asking them to do the impossible! They are exhausted. They have absolutely no physical strength left, and as it turns out, they don’t have any food either.
Mark 6:37b-38 They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.” (NIV)
From the other Gospels, we discover that this is not food THEY had. This is food they got from a little boy’s lunch. They had to borrow even the little bit they could scrounge together.
Mark 6:39-44 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. (NIV)
This doesn’t include the women and children, who by custom ate in a separate group from the men. The total number of people fed could easily have been 10, 15, 20 thousand, or more! And yet Jesus took a borrowed lunch and kept on giving and giving and giving it to his disciples so they could feed the huge crowd until everyone was satisfied! Then, on top of it all, there was enough left over to provide a lunch basket for each of the 12 disciples.
Jesus was teaching his disciples a lesson here, and it’s a lesson He would teach us, as well. Even when we don’t think we have anything left to give, if we give what we have, He will multiply it and use it to meet the needs of many. Then He will meet our needs as well. My friends, we can trust Christ to do the impossible through us no matter how meager our own resources.
Several years ago, Dr. Hugh McKean described a 400-member church in Chieng Mai, Thailand, where every member gave at least 10% of their weekly salary of less than 20 cents. As a result, that church did more for Christ in Thailand than most other churches. They paid their own preacher, and they sent two missionary families to spread the gospel in a community cut off from the outside world. In addition, they worked to meet the needs of the poor in their own community, having a tremendous impact for Christ on that tiny Island nation. By the way, every member of that church has leprosy. (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.461)
Now, if there is anyone who has an excuse for failing to reach out as Christ commanded us to, it is this church of lepers. They are more needy than most, and yet they are doing more than most churches even here in the United States of America. Why? It’s because they don’t measure their own resources. They just seek to do God’s will, give what they can, and trust the Lord to meet the need.
On the other hand, a lot of other churches look at what they have and decide they can’t do much. They’re like your typical committee, which Warren Wiersbe describes as “a group of people who individually can do nothing and collectively decide that nothing can be done.”
My friends, let’s never make that mistake here! Let’s never let any lack of money or any disability keep us from obeying Christ, especially when He tells us to reach out to a community in great need. That’s because God’s power is not limited to our own resources. Instead, when Christ asks us to do the impossible, let’s trust Him to provide rest when we need it; & let’s trust Him to provide the resources, as well. Finally, when Christ asks us to do the impossible and life seems overwhelming, let’s…
TRUST JESUS TO PROVIDE REASSURANCE.
Let’s depend on Christ to give us his peace in place of our fear, and let’s not be afraid of any opposition to his will, no matter how strong it is. That’s what the disciples had learn as they got into a boat to go where Jesus sent them.
Mark 6:45-48 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night (that’s somewhere between 3 and 6 a.m.) he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them… (NIV)
Now, that doesn’t mean He was going “to bypass” them. No. He intended “to pass beside” them to reassure them (Bible Knowledge Commentary).
Mark 6:49-50 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (NIV)
Literally, “Take courage. I AM.” Jesus reveals Himself as the great “I AM,” Jehovah God, Himself, the All Sufficient One, the One who is Everything We Need. That’s why we never need to fear. Jesus spoke to his disciples (vs.51) and said, “Take Courage! I AM. Don’t be afraid”
Mark 6:51-52 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. (NIV)
The loaves should have taught them that Christ can do the impossible through them; but they didn’t learn that lesson, so when they faced an impossible storm they were terrified.
Mark 6:53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. (NIV)
Now, Gennesaret was a fertile, populous plain (two miles wide and four miles long), south of Capernaum on the northwestern shore of the lake. Rabbis called this plain “the Garden of God” and “a paradise” (Bible Knowledge Commentary). Do you see where Jesus led them after that terrible storm? To a place where they could enjoy a great vacation!
Mark 6:54-56 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. (NIV)
Jesus continues His ministry with His disciples. Again, He was teaching His disciples a lesson, and it’s a lesson He would have us learn as well. Nothing can stop us from doing God’s will – not a lack of resources, and not even a storm that scares seasoned sailors.
In fact, it is in those very storms that Jesus passes beside us to reassure us. So stop trying to fight the storm, and don’t be afraid any longer. Instead, let Jesus come into your boat. Invite Christ into your predicament, and let Him do His thing. He will get you to where He wants you to go, and He will accomplish His will through you.
Psalm 138:8 says, “The Lord WILL fulfill His purpose for me.” And no one or nothing can an oppose Him. Like His original disciples, He will bring you to that “garden” place, and He will bring hope and health and healing to many in the places where He leads you.
Warren Wiersbe says, “In the Book of Acts, it is interesting to note that the “storm” of official persecution began after the disciples had won 5,000 people to Christ (Acts 4:1–4). Perhaps while they were in confinement, the Apostles recalled the storm that followed the feeding of the 5,000, and they must have encouraged themselves with the assurance that Jesus would come to them and see them through” (Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary).
My friends, when you’re in a storm of opposition, let Jesus do the same thing for you. Trust Him to provide reassurance and to get you where He wants you to go.
A few years ago (2007), Nancy Kennedy went through what she described as “a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year.” At the end of that year she was sitting in a hospital waiting room, one in which she had sat more times than she could count on one hand. Her husband, Barry, was going through another surgery 15 months after he first went through open heart and quadruple bypass surgery.
Nancy says, “In little more than a year's time, my vocabulary has increased to include words and phrases such as aneurysm, atrial fib, and EP study with ablation. They all mean I have to put on a cheery face, kiss Barry good-bye, and promise I won't worry about him or forget to eat lunch and lock the garage door at night while he's in the hospital again.”
Looking back on that year, Nancy said it was “one of the worst in our 32 years together. Yet, ironically, it’s also turned out to be the best.” Because in that year, she learned just how deeply Barry loved her. As he was all prepped and waiting to go into surgery to repair his aortic aneurysm, Barry looked at Nancy’s friend Tara and said, “Make sure Nancy takes care of herself. Promise me, or else I'll worry.”
He wasn't worried about being sliced open again – he was worried about Nancy, his wife. It touched her deeply.
Nancy had come to faith in Christ three years after Barry and she were married. Then, for almost 30 years she prayed about her husband's relationship with the Lord, but on the day of Barry's open-heart surgery, he told her if he died, She’d see him again, because he knew Jesus was his Savior. He prayed with her, he prayed with a friend, and he prayed with his surgeon, and Barry hasn't stopped praying. Now, he prays with Nancy every day.
Nancy says, “What I'd asked God for all these years – to heal the spiritual rift in my marriage, to bring my husband and me close – God had given. He'd performed heart surgery on us both, ripping us apart and knitting us back together.”
She and her husband agree: the year was “awful,” but “awfully good.” They wouldn't wish that kind of year on anyone and wouldn't want to go through it again, but they’re glad it happened.
Nancy says, “We thank God for the good days and the bad, because in all our days God has held us both securely in his grip. We've known God's incredible kindness to us. Our hearts are in his hands. We've had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year – and I praise God for it. (Nancy Kennedy, “The [Not So] Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year,” Walk with Me, a Today's Christian Woman blog, 12-5-07; www.PreacingToday.com)
Dear friends, let Jesus do the same thing for you in YOUR storm. Trust him to turn your problems into praise. Trust Him to hold you securely in His grip even during those “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad” years.
When life gets overwhelming and you feel like God has asked you to do the impossible, don’t lose heart. Instead, trust Jesus to provide rest; trust Jesus to provide resources; and trust Jesus to provide reassurance even when the winds are contrary and you can’t go any further.
Annie Jonhson Flint said it best when she wrote these words:
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
His love has no limit;
His grace has no measure;
His pow’r has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again! (Annie Johnson Flint, 1941)
