Trying to tell Jesus what to do?

Have you ever wanted something so bad or desired to see something accomplished so greatly that you tried to tell Jesus what to do?

The disciples tried this several times and every attempted command was over-ridden with the most unexpected reply.

Luke 9:12 – the disciples tell Jesus – “Send the multitude away…” Jesus reply, (vs. 13) “You give them something to eat.” The disciples were not expecting that nor could they feed this multitude that numbered 5,000 men (plus families).

Luke 9:13 – “We have no more than five loaves and two fish…
Luke 9:14 – Jesus now give the orders – “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” And most anyone who has read the NT knows what takes place next.

I often tell the students in school, “we don’t tell God what to do, we just present Him with the problem and watch Him do the most unexpected thing, that which the mind would not even conceive, and that which would be impossible for man but not for God. And in the times when you love a person so much that you would go out on the limb to try to tell God what He should do or when you think that you have a solution that the Lord needs to hear – well, He is not obligated to do that which you are requesting. He does obligate Himself though quite often through the promises that He has made in His word. And those promises you can count on, bring before the throne of God and expect to be kept.”

Reading today in Luke, made me smile as I read these dear disciples who were just beginning to come to understand who they were trying to tell what to do. I am not much different in many ways than these men, but I am learning as I read His word and I go through this life – His ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are not my thoughts (Is. 55:8-9). I am so glad though that He, it time, reveals His ways and His thoughts, and even when that is unavailable – I can trust Him.

“Thank you Jesus for being the founder and finisher of our faith. “ (Heb. 12:1-2)