What Do You See?
You may have heard of the television talk show, The View. A panel of women get together and discuss their opinions on various topics. Often, there is a difference of opinion. The hosts often have varying opinions on what is truth or how something should be.
We see differences of opinions in many relationships. Marriages, friendships, coworkers, the list goes on. Sometimes it is just a matter of two people looking at an issue in two different ways.
John 6:4-14 gives us an example of looking at things two different ways:
Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was there. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?“ But this he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that everyone of them may have a little.”
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but water they among so many?”
Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.“ Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, he said to his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing has lost. Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
Here we have an issue. We have a whole lot of people and only a little bit of food. And here we also see two different sides to the issue. On one side, we have disciples who are worried and fretting about where the food will come from and what they’re going to do. On the other hand, we have Jesus who is calm and doesn’t seem bothered in the least.
The disciples are seeing the mass amount of people as a huge problem. Jesus looks at the people as an opportunity to love on them and to show them how powerful God is.
When you are facing a problem, or sharing a difference of opinion with someone, what do you see? Do you see the problem as insurmountable? Do you see only your side and how you might come out the “winner”? Or do you see it as Jesus saw the 5000 that day...a chance to love someone and affirm that they are valuable?
God can do wondrous things in the midst of our opposing viewpoints, if we step back and let him. Don’t doubt what God can do. Don’t feel like the problem is just too big. Nothing is too big for our big, big God.
