We need to Reject Reasoning
That idea came to my mind and I immediately thought, “That’s not reasonable!” After all, reasonable is the least we can be right? And then it hit me, “When did God ever settle for the least?”
Jesus had had quite a day! He’d been challenged by the disciples and fed 4,000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few fishes. (Mark 8:1-9) He’d been challenged by the Pharisees for a sign (Mark 8:10-12) and gave them nothing; and He’d again been challenged by His disciples when they failed to remember who He was only hours after the miracle (Mark 8:13-21). They thought they’d let Christ down.
Christ, who was fully God and fully man. What kept the man side of Him from smacking people in the back of the head, I have no idea. When we’ve seen God do great things, why do we expect less. God didn’t settle for less, why should we? The world will tell you that failure is acceptable. Don’t worry about measuring up. Settle for what bread and fish you have. And so we do and tell our kids, it’s good enough. And God says, not so. Look what I can do with what you have, stop settling for less.
We reason His provision
We say we believe Matthew chapter 8, and yet we don’t allow God to move like that in our lives. We’ve never trusted our bread and fish to Him. I’m not a prosperity gospel believer. I don’t believe you speak wealth into your lives any more than you can speak yourself onto the moon. But I believe in provision. And sometimes God gives us the miracle and sometimes He gives us instructions. And I believe we should show our children that if we trust what we have to Him and obey His words, He’ll provide for us. They need to know Who it is that controls the world. And to the world, that’s not reasonable. The disciples had just seen Christ feed 4000 and then got into a boat and thought God was upset with them because “they” forgot the bread. They forgot He was their provider.
We reason His providence
Christ left that miracle feeding or 4000 and was faced head on by the religious of the day who sought a sign; (Matthew 8:11-12) to which He replied “There shall no sign be given unto this generation.” God doesn’t have to prove Himself to anyone. And yet, someone with a sincere heart, who willingly gives and does for the cause of Christ, to them God says in Malachi 3:10 ~ Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Our families need to know that God doesn’t have to prove Himself to anyone, but He will to those who love Him.
We reason His precepts
Mathew 8:15-16 ~ And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.
The disciples thought it was about them. Christ said “No, it’s about Me.” The desire of the religious leaders to have a sign was a rejection of His ministry. Jesus warned the disciples not to reason Him out, just trust Him. We need to understand that if the Bible says it, it’s truth. There’s no work involved in getting to Heaven, just trust and obedience. They go hand in hand. If we believe what the Word says, and we trust in Christ, we’ll obey. It’s not to say we won’t occasionally fail, we will. But it’s then that we understand the protection of God. He does not condemn His children; He helps them back up and puts them on the path again. That is the challenge that He sets before us to show the world Who is in control. Sometimes God puts our own world out of control so that we have only Him to lean on. It’s then that the world can see Him. It’s not when “we” can do it. It’s when there is absolutely no reason “that” should have worked. And God says, “that’s ME.”