When I was a child, one of the most memorable Bible story I can remember is about how Christ fed the five thousand. I had no idea at that time how big of an undertaking this is. But still, I was filled with wonder at the thought of how a few loaves of bread and two pieces of fish magically multiplied allowing everyone to eat and be satisfied.

Now, my mind is trying to remember that innocence I had as a child but then that's not our focus here. Instead, I wanted to explore how Philip and Andrew responded to Christ's challenge to them in John 6.

When Christ asked for their inputs on where to buy bread to feed the people, he already had an answer in mind but he wanted to see how they would respond. The verses below describe what transpired during that time.

⁷ Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

⁸ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

As you can see, Philip vehemently expressed that what Christ is proposing is too costly. Now, this is what you call a knee-jerk response when faced with a situation that's beyond normal. To be honest, it might just be how I would respond if I were in his place. Especially without the childlike innocence in play.

Andrew, on the other hand, is clearly convinced from the start that Christ's challenge is worth taking on. However, didn't he express doubt when he wondered if the five small barley loaves and small fish are enough? Well, I wouldn't call it doubt but he did ask a question about feasibility.  

The first thing that happened was Christ raising up a question as a form of challenge to Philip and Andrew. After that came the response to that challenge. At this point, Philip and Andrew clearly had divergent paths already.

Andrew provided a positive response to Christ's challenge by demonstrating that he was willing to obey Christ even though it might cost a lot. He provided a plan by saying that there was a boy with bread and fish. Although he did question the feasibility of feeding five thousand people with the food that they had, I realized here that what matters is the first step of faith that he took. He said yes and started working towards accomplishing the challenge.

When Andrew didn't know what would happen next, he stopped and asked Christ. "How far will they go among so many?" There is a lesson here. When things become a big question mark, what do we do? Do we attempt to trudge on without any idea as to what we're supposed to do or do we stop and ask guidance from the Lord? There are a lot of reasons why God does not reveal everything all at once to us and I actually have a few insights about that but that's probably for another time.

We need to accept the fact that when God challenges us, it's for us to be part of a massive undertaking such as feeding five thousand people with "limited resources". The first lesson is that we shouldn't think about the potential losses but just take the leap of faith God expects. He already has planned everything and the only thing left for us to do is say yes. Second, asking questions is not something to be feared. In fact, that leads us to rely on the wisdom of God all the more. Instead of blindly doing what we think is right, we have the opportunity to slow down and see how God will work.

Now, what would our response be when God asks us to feed the five thousand? I hope that at this point, each one of us would have the right faith that will allow the Lord to use us in accomplishing great things for His glory.