Your Move

Mark 6:^36-37 “Send the people away so they can go and buy something to eat.’ But Jesus answered, ‘You give them something to eat!’ They said, ‘That would take eight months of a man’s wages!’” (NIV paraphrased, emphasis added).

As disciples of Jesus, we need to get rid of three self-defeating behaviours that the disciples also had. Get rid of procrastination. You know you have the challenge, but you are procrastinating. You do not want to admit it, so you hide, you cover, or you just leave it and wish it will just go away. The disciples procrastinated. You have a crowd of people before you. Jesus has been teaching since morning, but nobody did anything about it. There are things in your life, your family, your marriage, and your home that you know are a problem because they are like an elephant in the room. But you do nothing about it because you do not want to rock the boat.

You procrastinate. Guess what? Procrastination never solves any problem. In fact, what it does is make the problem worse. Jesus was preaching, and the disciples knew that as surely as the earth remains, the night will come but they did nothing about it. They procrastinated. After procrastinating most times, the next thing we do is pass the buck like the disciples of Jesus. We are disciples of Jesus too, so we do a lot of things that they did, even the bad ones. We pass the buck; we blame other people. And this is one of the things that amazes me as a Pastor. You are talking to some people, and they blame everything else for their current situation. People blame their parents, the economy, their spouse, their children, and every single thing.

Sometimes, they blame the Pastor. Ask Moses, the people stoned Moses meanwhile it did not have anything to do with Moses. The real Person they had an issue with was God. When I find people blaming me, I go to God and I ask, ‘What did I do?’ God says, ‘It is not you the person is angry at, it is Me.’ ‘So, why can’t they face You?’ I ask and He says, ‘It is because they cannot find Me. Sorry, just take the pellets.’ The disciples were blaming the people, why didn’t they plan? Why didn’t they come here with their food? One thing I have realized as a Pastor and as a leader is something that can scare you, but it will set you free. And it is that when God brings people into your life, their problem becomes your responsibility. But we do not want that, do we?

However, that is how it is. Jesus said to the disciples, you feed them. Why did Jesus say, ‘You feed them’? Jesus was actually testing them. The truth is at the end of the day, it was still the disciples that fed the crowd. Jesus was just telling them that that is their responsibility.

Prayer: Father, no longer will I procrastinate on this matter. I admit it exists and I come to Your Throne of Mercy that I may obtain grace now that I need it most, in Jesus Name. Amen!