Ready or not!

Because the ship I work on is having its annual 'Dry-dock' time of maintenance, many people are sent off the ship to work with local ministries during that time. Over the last few days I was involved in debriefing about 70 of our people who had just returned from two weeks of work with locals, then after two days of debriefing, were heading out again for two more weeks with new hosts.

The work is good but many people get very tired, and nervous about heading out again so soon.
What do you do when you have very little energy and so much is required of you?

Luke 9 was a chapter I read during my quiet time while at the debriefing. Jesus' disciples were in such a similar situation!

After seeing Jesus working miracles and demonstrating His great power, now He sends THEM out to work with HIS authority.

So they go, do amazing things, and even Herod gets to hear about it!
When they come back, they tell Jesus all about everything that happened.

He takes them to a remote place, and there they spend time with Him to debrief.
But the crowds follow. The debriefing is way too short. People are everywhere, demanding His attention, His time.

How would the disciples feel? Come on - they've just returned from their short-term mission. Now it's down-time with Jesus. Go away, people!

Of course, they can't say that straight. They're meant to love people, not shoo them off because they're tired of ministry. So they find a more plausible reason to get rid of them...

'Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here."' - Luke 9:12

That's a good reason. They should go. We only have a bit of food, and we want Jesus for ourselves. Let them sort themselves out.

But Jesus puts a definite full-stop on their hoped-for time of rest:

He replied, "You give them something to eat." - Luke 9:13

Us??? We're exhausted! We've just come back from our mission trip! We need a break! We have nothing!

And that's the best place to be.
Jesus takes the 'nothing' they have - (after all, 5 loves and 2 fish is basically nothing when you see more than 5000 diners!) - and HE multiplies it.

Just like He multiplied the nothing they had to offer when He sent them on their mission trip.
Just like He multiplies the nothing we feel when He calls us for a task.

What excites me about this passage is how Jesus knows how much rest His disciples need. He did take them away. They did spend time with Him. But while they may have wanted longer, He knew what was enough, and He pushed them to the front again - 'YOU give them something to eat.'

The disciples gave Jesus what they had.
He multiplied it.
He gave it back to them.
They gave it out to the people.
They received back a basket each of left-overs.


Our 70ish people are out again on new teams. Yes, they're tired from the old teams, following months of very busy work in Asia. But I am confident that, like the disciples, as they give the little they have to God, He will multiply it and people will be blessed.

And He knows if we're ready or not. More than we do.