FOLLOWING Jesus Christ from their nets, the apostle band had come face to face with a most terrific difficulty. The people were hungry; they had come from far; they had nothing to eat. There were only a few little hamlets scattered upon this the eastern side of the lake, which were totally unfit to supply the need of such a crowd of men. It was a difficult problem, and Christ let them face it. He did not hurry to tell them what he was going to do. A weaker nature than his could not have endured to see the perplexity of his friends. Halfway through the morning, or the afternoon, when the sun began to sink in the west, he would have halted amid his address, called them around him, and whispered: Do not be anxious about the evening meal; I will see to it. But, instead, he brought them face to face with the almost insuperable difficulty, and said, Now, what are we to do? He even suggested an expedient, which they probably would entertain, and even had already discussed, but which he was not about to adopt. He said, How shall we buy bread? That is always God’s method. Before he shows us what he is going to do, he brings us face to face with our own absolute incompetence. He must reduce us to nothingness; he must bring us down to the two hundred pennyworth of bread, to the five barley loaves and two small fishes, which is all we can produce. He must bring Abraham and his seed into slavery, before he can raise up Moses as deliverer. He must bring Moses to the edge of the Red Sea, with the mighty breakers at his feet and all the people murmuring behind him, before he will open the way. He must bring them into the wilderness and permit them to hunger, that he may rain down the manna, and strew the desert floor with their breakfast, morning by morning. Jesus Christ is always bringing us face to face with almost insuperable difficulties, that we may learn to trust him more, and that he may have the opportunity of revealing himself to us, and the Father as well—for what are we but children, with our barley loaves and fishes? And if the world shall see how Christ can use our poor resources, it induces greater and more adoring conceptions of what Jesus is. In following the Lord Jesus, when he calls you away from your ordinary association, you may be of good courage. At this very hour you may have come face to face with a most tremendous need, and Christ stands beside you looking at it, and questioning you about it. He says: How are you going to meet it? But you must not think he wants your advice. He is scrutinizing you. He has got his fingers on your pulse, and his eye upon your face. He is watching you with a gentle, tender sympathy. You might say, Lord, why put me in this position? He answers, For the trying of your faith, which is more precious than of silver or gold, that it may emerge from the furnace cleansed of dross. How many of us have failed in that test! We have taken out our pencil and paper, and begun to figure out the two hundred pennyworth of bread; or we have gone round with our hat, asking for a collection; or we have run off hither and thither to strong and wealthy friends to extricate us; or we have sat down in utter despondency wringing our hands; or we have murmured against him for bringing us into such a position; or we have said, with Moses, Have I begotten all this people that I should carry them as a nursing father? Ah! we have very often failed in the test; we have been proved and found wanting. We have not turned a sunny face back to Christ, and said: Thou hast a plan; it is not my business, it is thine; thine is the responsibility, and thou must tell me what to do. We do not find that Philip or Andrew answered thus. Theirs was the averted face, with the shadow of the evening upon it, instead of the bright hue of dawn. Never mind your difficulty; do not run away from it, do not want to die, do not try to burrow under the earth, and say, I wish I could fall through the earth, to get away from it; but stand still, hand in hand with Christ, and look at it. He knows what he will do, and he will do that which is so infinitely satisfactory that you will be glad you ever came into the difficulty. God let men sin, because he knew what he would do; he allowed the whole history of time to unfold, because he knew what he would do; he allowed the devil to tempt men, because he knew what he would do. He permits sad and trying things to come, but he has a reserve, and will show us the way out, or make the way by his outstretched hand.—Life of Faith.