And when it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, "The place is desolate, and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!" (Matthew 14:15-16)

I was told that this coming year was going to be a year of miracles for us, and that we were going to see some of the greatest miracles we have ever witnessed because we are going to need them!

Many want to see miracles, but how many are willing to be put in a place where they need one? Miracles are not given for our entertainment, neither are they given to build our faith. They are the result of our having faith. Almost every miracle was the result of a desperate need. The greater the need, the greater the miracle.

How great would the miracle have been to feed the five thousand if the disciples had hundreds of fishes and loaves, and just needed a little more? It was a great miracle because they had so little in their own hands with which to do what they were asked by God to do.

When we are called by God to do a task, we often begin to look at what resources we have to perform it. This can be the beginning of our fall from the faith that will be required to do the true works of God. It is at the point that we see our resources running out that we will experience the power of God. What we need to do the true works of God will not be found in our own resources, or our own wisdom, but in the limitless resources of God.

We know that "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (see James 4:6). However, there is a false humility that is an offense to God, and can keep us from being useful to Him. It was this kind of false humility that Moses displayed when God first called him at the burning bush.

When the Lord told Moses that He was sending him back to release His people from bondage, Moses responded by saying that he was not adequate for this great task. This seemed humble, but it caused the anger of the Lord to burn against Moses. The Lord was angry because this seeming humility was actually an ultimate form of pride, and an affront to God. Moses was saying that his inadequacy was greater than God's adequacy. He was focusing on himself instead of the Lord. This is the one thing that may have caused more people to fail to fulfill their calling than any other single factor.

We will never be adequate within ourselves for what the Lord calls us to do. In our flesh, which is our natural strength, we cannot accomplish one thing for the Lord. That is why Paul the Apostle told the men of Athens that the Lord is not served by human hands. Only the Spirit can begat that which is spirit. We are utterly dependent on the Lord to do His work. We will never be adequate within ourselves for His work, and if we ever start to feel adequate we will almost certainly be in the midst of a fall from grace.

True faith is not a feeling of adequacy in ourselves, but rather of our focus on the adequacy of God. True faith is not a faith in our faith, but a faith in Him. The greatest faith is that which can see and believe in His provision in the time of the most pressing need. We need to see every circumstance that is beyond ourselves as an opportunity to see a miracle. If we are faithful in the little opportunities, He will bless us with greater ones. And yes, those blessings are trials.

We are about to see great miracles, because He is going to allow us to come into places where we are going to need them. Let us determine now that we are not going to focus on the need, or ourselves, but on Him. Let us prepare for these opportunities by focusing on Him today.
 

Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God.

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.


For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end;

while it is said, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me" (Hebrews 3:12-15).