Looking for some confidence as we prepare to enter the new year? Check this out.

Luke 9:10-17
The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He then took them with him to the village of Bethsaida, where they could be alone. But a lot of people found out about this and followed him. Jesus welcomed them. He spoke about God’s kingdom and healed everyone who was sick.

Late in the afternoon the twelve apostles came to Jesus and said, “Send the crowd to the villages and farms around here. They need to find a place to stay and something to eat. There is nothing in this place. It’s like a desert!”

Jesus answered, “You give them something to eat.”

But they replied, “We have only five small loaves of bread and two fish. If we are going to feed all these people, we will have to go and buy food.” There were about 5,000 men in the crowd.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Tell the people to sit in groups of 50.” They did this, and all the people sat down. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and fish and handed them to his disciples to give to the people.

Everyone ate all they wanted. What was left over filled twelve baskets.

This is a well-known Bible passage and you may have heard it before. I had, but when I read it the other day, something stood out to me that hadn’t during previous encounters with it.

Check out the part where Jesus tells the disciples, “You give them something to eat.”

This is Jesus, after all. Son of God, Savior of the world, and fully capable of doing literally anything. It would have been no problem for Him to do this by Himself, and as the passage goes on to show, He ultimately did.

But, His first move was to let the disciples know they should do it. And, in doing so, He empowered them to do something incredible, whether they believed they could do it or not. He let them know He believed in them by initially delegating this monumental task.

And, what was the response? Classic human behavior of making excuses. “I can’t. It’s just too hard, or too much. This is not possible.” And so on. We all do this. I’m sure guilty of it.

But, what if we flipped the script? Maybe we could look at this for what it really is, a vote of confidence from the God who loves us and believes in us more than we could ever believe in ourselves – even the most confident folks in the world.

I loved reading this the other day. It reminded me God truly believes in me, and I hope it reminds you He believes in you!

Be encouraged and be bold in the year ahead. You are so loved, and with God, there is nothing you can’t do.

Happy New Year!