In Jesus’ Presence

Most people are always looking for something exciting to happen in their lives. They feel that life is boring and nothing exciting happens. They plan vacations to exotic locations hoping to do something unusual but nothing really that unusual happens. Life is not really that exciting and they return home disappointed. All their hopes and dreams for something exciting didn’t materialize.

Others take up hobbies to spice up their lives. They decide to explore some extreme sports. Extreme sports are high risk activities. Many require special gear and training. Once you have mastered the training, it might become ordinary especially if you find someone who is much better than at it than you.

As the quest for excitement starts to waiver you begin to think that nothing really exciting happens in your life. You look at television and hear all these stories about amazing things that happen to ordinary people. Then you wonder, how is it that their ordinary is exciting and your ordinary is so boring. The truth is, excitement happens in your life. If you are patient you will have a day that will make the headlines.

One day, it was just an ordinary day with birds chirping and the wind blowing when someone came looking for Jesus. They came to tell him that his cousin, John the Baptist, had been murdered. It was the kind of news to turn an ordinary day into one that’s memorable. Jesus left in a boat to go somewhere where He could be alone. Someone found out where He was headed and the crowd found Him.

Matthew 14:14 says, “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Jesus put aside His feelings and took the time to minister to the crowd. There were people in the crowd who did not yearn for an exciting life; they needed healing to live a normal life. Jesus had compassion on the crown and did not turn them away.

In the evening, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him to dismiss the crowd. They felt it was late and the people needed to go into the villages so they could buy something to eat. They didn’t fully understand Jesus’ heart of compassion. He would never send the crowd away hungry after they spent the entire day in His presence. He told them to find food.

They couldn’t believe what they heard. They probably thought, where would we get money to feed all these people? While they were discussing their next steps, a little boy overheard them. Children are always ready to share. He offered his lunch to help feed the crown. You see, he didn’t have any idea what was necessary to feed the crowd.

So they went back to Jesus and told Him all they had was five loaves of bread and two fish. They were amazed by his response. Jesus asked for the food then gave some instructions. Verse 19 says, “Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people.” They didn’t get a snack till they got home to have a meal. They had as much as they wanted. They fed five thousand men plus women and children.

When it was over, they collected twelve baskets of leftover food. You see when you find yourself in Jesus’ presence you do not leave the same way you came. They came sick and went home healed. They were hungry but left satisfied. Could you imagine the stories the members of the crowd had to tell? How exciting! So if you are looking for excitement in your life, look no further, Jesus provides all the excitement you will ever need.