When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.”

As the stage is set here, I can’t help but think about some of the conversations I have had with my children over the years. I have five children, and they all have different motivators and personalities. But one thing they all had in common is that they had a deflated sense of what they were capable of. I would ask them to do a simple task, their invariable reply after a short amount of time is: “I can’t ….” I can’t find it. I can’t do it. I can’t lift it. I can’t keep going. “I can’t” is one of my least favorite things to hear. Why? Because it shows a lack of curiosity, tenacity, and resourcefulness in getting the job done. I have worked hard instructing, rebuking in love, and disciplining the “I can’t” out of my children. Why? Because it is an unacceptable excuse. If I, as their loving father, who knows them, ask them to do something, I clearly believe they can and I also am willing to help them. But they must try and they also should ask questions when they hit a roadblock. I am training my children to believe they can and to ask for help in that mindset.

Jesus, I believe, is doing something very similar here with the disciples. Fresh off of giving them authority to cast out demons, heal the sick, and preach the good news of the gospel (see Luke 9:7-9), when he asks them to feed the multitude they say, in essence: “We can’t.” What they failed to ask Jesus was, “I want to believe I can do this, can you show me how?”

Jesus wants to show us how to do the unbelievable in life. He wants to show us how to unbelievably love, to be unbelievably honest, to be unbelievably kind, and to unbelievably forgive! And he wants to use his unbelievably great power in us and through us.

So, what questions do I ask Jesus when the circumstances of life are unbelievably hard? Or when his call in my heart is unbelievably difficult?

Lord, I don’t want to be an “I Can’t” Christian anymore. Teach me to trust you as my Lord and God, and to ask you good questions assuming: ME + YOU = “I CAN”!