SATURDAY THOUGHTS: MAKING WORK

None of the 5000+ people assembled, said anything about being hungry--not one word. 

They probably would have happily continued listening to Jesus speak, had the apostles not SUGGESTED they needed food. 

(Who's in YOUR ear telling you what you want, need or ought to do, have, or know? 

But I digress...) 

Now, the Bible doesn't say that it was ALL of the apostles advocating for an end to hunger. 

Were there ringleaders who roped the others into a scheme to get Jesus to send the people away? 

Jesus wasn't stupid. He knew their hearts and motives. They didn't give a kitty about whether those people ate or not. They thought they could distract Jesus from the principal thing. He was teaching, and the people were listening, not complaining how long-winded he was, or lamenting that they'd missed a meal. 

The apostles--the self-centered ones anyway--were trying to play on Jesus' compassionate side. Dummies. 

So... Jesus said, 

 "Oh. For real? They're hungry? Well then, YOU feed them." Then they were like, "Wait?...Ummm...Whaaat?...No...My bad...We were thinking they could just go to Popeye's or the 7-Eleven!" 

Selfish people will always try to disrupt the feast you're enjoying.

The apostles acted without a plan, underestimated Jesus' response, were being manipulative, and sought to undermine the spiritual meal the people were receiving. 

Their scheme failed. 

They ended up making work for themselves--and others--a LOT of work. 

Fortunately, Jesus didn't just leave them hanging to figure out how they were going to get it done. 

They didn't have to go into their own pockets, fire up the barbecue or run to the Safeway. He told them what to do (and they STILL hesitated) and a miracle came out of it.

The jokers could have been resting the whole time, though. 

You can't run everything or everyone. Don't try. You'll make work for yourself. Don't sit back and think you know what's happening in any situation unless you have first hand experience. 

Don't ever think you know what someone else is going to do, just because you think you have their ear. 

Don't underestimate whether a competent person has control of a situation. It will backfire, and they just might put YOU to work, or you'll end up with more on your plate than you bargained for. 

Don't create a dilemma or look for fault where none exists. 

Don't hail yourself as an authority on a thing or situation you haven't actually assessed. 

Don't start something you don't have the willingness or capacity to finish. 

Don't assume something won't work unless your hand is in it. You'll miss something wonderful THERE, that you could have experienced, because you were so obsessed with what was going on HERE. 

You'll expend time, energy, resources, and effort you could have used for something else. If you want to run the show, there's a whole lot more to it than merely standing on the stage, hearing your name called first, or hobnobbing with the stars.

When the Lord tells you to take a break, do it. When God is trying to lighten your load, let him. 

When someone else has a thing running smoothly, leave it alone.