Which Way Are You Looking?

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

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Several years ago I had the opportunity to be in London. And I got to see some things that we don't see much of in America: the palace, the double-decked buses, the Bobbies, the nice, neat, courteous lines at bus and train stops where people are actually polite, buildings that represent up to 1,000 years of history. And there's one thing that's very new there for an American. It could be dangerous. It's the direction of traffic.

Cars drive on the left side, and it really messes up American drivers and in this case an American pedestrian. You step off a curb, looking to the left of course. We've been conditioned for a lifetime to look to the left. You do that in London, and you may not be using your return ticket. I mean, as in any city, there's busy traffic. But the British must know that there will be confused Yanks like me there. They paint these signs and arrows on the pavement that say "Look Right." They saved my life! It's very important. If you're not looking the right way, you can get run over.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Which Way Are You Looking?"

Our word for today from the Word of God, Luke chapter 9, and we're in the middle of that feeding of the five thousand where the disciples have seen the size of the crowd and said, "Boy, they've got to eat. We'd better send them away." And Jesus said, "You give them something to eat." The disciples aren't quite sure what to do with that command. They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish-unless we go and buy food for all this crowd. (About five thousand men were there.) But He said to His disciples, 'Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each. The disciples did so and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate. (They all ate. Did you get that?) and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over."

Okay, Jesus and the disciples are facing an overwhelming need. Maybe like you right now. Maybe you're looking at a financial need, or family, or personal, or ministry situation, and it's like a Mission Impossible. See, that's when miracles happen. It's kind of like crossing streets in London. The outcome depends on which way you're looking.

There are three ways you can look when you're facing an overwhelming situation. First, you can look out at the need. That's what the disciples did. It's a huge crowd; a huge need. Secondly, you can look down at your resources. In John 6 that's what the disciples did. Andrew said, "Here's a boy with five small (notice small) barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" "Hey, our resources are no match for this need!" Maybe that's how you feel right now. You just don't have the money, the wisdom, the strength, the help, the answers. Well, in both cases you're going to be paralyzed or panicky.

There's a third way to look though, and that's what Jesus did. It says, "And looking up to heaven He gave thanks for the loaves." Jesus chose to look in the Lord's direction, not out at the need, not down at the resources, but where the resources are unlimited. The Bible says in Philippians 4:19, "God will supply all your need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." So Jesus thanked God for what He did have, though it was nowhere near enough. And not enough was miraculously multiplied into more than enough.

Do you know that's exactly what happens when somebody puts their life into Jesus' hands? Your life could be so much more than you ever imagined. Jesus said, "I've come that you may have life and have it to the full." And we do as much as we can do with our lives, until one day we say, "Jesus, You who died on the cross to pay for my sin, You who walked out of your grave under your own power, You who will be returning one day to wrap up human history, it's time I took this life that I have thwarted and put it in the hands of the one who was meant to be controlling it all."

I'd invite you to do that today. He's inviting you to do that today. I'd love to help you do that if you'd just meet me at our website. It's ANewStory.com, and there's information there that will help you know how to get started.

You know, if we hadn't looked the right way in heavy traffic in London, we would have been run over. If you don't look the right way in your heavy traffic, you're going to be run over. But God has written in this feeding of the five thousand, clear direction. Don't look out at the staggering need, don't look down at the puny resources. Look up to heaven and focus on the unlimited resources of your God.