Mark 8:19 ESV ‘When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’”
There is such abundance available as you can see in this story. But notice also what happened before I multiplied the bread…the people were hungry for days. As you can see both in the Bible but also in your daily lives, I do not tend to provide for everything the very moment you think you need it. Sometimes I ask you to wait. Why? Because:
- Patience is an incredible virtue. Without it people become very self focused and narcissistic and much less resilient.
- Trust is essential in our relationship. Every time you wait for something you have a choice…to trust Me to provide or to wonder if I am going to provide. Each time you wait, you get to practice leaning into Me more, even in the extreme circumstances in this world when you think you cannot possibly wait any longer.
In general, in life, you should expect to have wilderness times and “flow” times. The wilderness times are times of waiting and the flow times are times of being in a flow where all is provided at the time it is needed and very little waiting is needed. Life will move from one to the other, back and forth, and they last different lengths of time.
Of course, you learn different lessons in each of these phases. In wilderness you learn trust and in flow you learn trust and you also learn how to manage pride and ego because when you are in flow you tend to believe it is you doing something wonderful in order to be in the flow.
In each case, regardless of what phase you are in, know that you are okay and that you will come through it well. You will learn what you need to learn, I will ensure that, and the more you trust Me the more the wilderness and flow times will become one with each other. This is somewhat what I mean when I say that I will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV” Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
This verse describes it perfectly…
- In the wilderness – focus on trusting Me and not leaning on your own understanding and you will not despair.
- In the “flow” – Focus on acknowledge Me so that you do not become prideful in your successes.
And the result, is that you will find Me making your paths straight.
In the lesson of the loaves of bread being multiplied is that there is great lack for a short time and the people dedicate themselves to being with Me. They trust Me, knowing that what I have to offer is worth more than bread to them. Then there is great abundance, so much so that there are twelve baskets of bread remaining after everyone has had their fill (and put some in their pockets for the way home).
Where are you in your journey right now? Are you in a wilderness or in the flow or are you in the transition period between the two?
Being aware of this helps you know how to focus your mental energy and faith!
Prayer:
Lord, I am so grateful for you explaining this so succinctly because it is something I have often wondered about. Thank You Lord for being trustworthy no matter what. Thank You for being there all of the time and helping me to learn patience, trust, and how to acknowledge You without deprecating myself. I love You Lord and I know that many baskets of whatever I need will be left over when the time is right. For the time being I will trust and lean on You rather than myself and I will praise and acknowledge You in all that flows well. Regardless of how long each stage lasts, I will be with You and trust You just as Job trusted you fully and you walked through both lack and abundance with him.
Thank you!
Amen
I believe this is a message to us from God, written from His perspective – Sherri
© 2025 Spirit Centered Healing Arts – All Rights Reserved
Spirit Centered Healing Arts is a crowdfunded nonprofit ministry. Your prayers, generosity, and support allow me to continue offering God’s healing words to those who need it most. To donate, click here or go to www.SCHealingArts.org and click on Donate.
…or schedule here if you would like to experience a Spiritual Direction or Healing Session. (All work is done on a donation basis.)
Follow on LinkedIn
Connect with Sherri on LinkedIn