Recently, I came across a devotional that focused on Psalm 23 and once again I was once again enjoying new treasures. As our Shepherd, God exhibits certain qualities which as usual, struck me as timely reminders considering how overwhelmed I have been feeling lately.

Hence, in the succeeding posts, I will be writing about a couple of God's attributes based on Psalm 23. This will be the first time that I will be writing a series and I pray that even as God leads me to new insights, this would also help bring you to your own journey of seeing how the Lord relates to each one of us in a deep and personal way.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27 NIV2011)

So which is it? I'm pretty sure God wouldn't start revealing something to me that contradicts with what is in the Scriptures so I dug deeper. I was very interested in this thought because for the past few days, I have been praying for direction with regard to a certain ministry calling and one of the things I realized that we, as ministers (or shepherds), should bring the Church to the lost and not the other way around where we wait for them to come. That's when it hit me.

There are two kinds of sheep:

1. Those who have one ear perked up ready for God's voice calling them and ready to go to where the voice is; and
2. Those who are in the vicinity but trapped in some kind of circumstance that's preventing them from hearing and following the Lord. This could be a choice they make but that's another story.

A Christian is someone who listens to God's voice, recognizes His sovereignty, and is ready to obey Him. While it may be true we accidentally become hard of hearing sometimes, we should have a deep-seated desire to be that kind of  person more and more as God continues to work in our hearts.

The second aspect is what has been on my thoughts these days. I've been having a very strong yearning to make sure that my influence extends beyond the norms of society into my spiritual identity. Simply put, I had strong feelings about learning to demonstrate properly what it means to be a child of God, to minister to those around and help form Christ in their hearts, and to shepherd the lost back to the Lord.

How? Admittedly,  it's not something I know for sure but one thing I want to start doing is to lay down my experiences, my biases, and my comforts and just go back to the basics of my personal relationship with God. After all, our walk with the Lord is not a to-do list that we need to accomplish to be someone or something. At the end of the day, I just need to keep on communing with Him, obeying Him, proclaiming His Word, meditating on His Word, and living as a shepherd.

I think many of you would agree that when asked what faith is, the first thing that comes to mind would be Hebrews 11:1. However, beyond the "textbook meaning" of faith, what is it with faith that God clearly emphasized that without faith, it is impossible to please Him? Do you think believing in God perfectly encapsulates what faith is?

As I was pondering those questions to myself, I started gravitating towards three notable characters in Hebrews 11: Abel, Cain, and Enoch.

Cain and Abel

The story of Cain and Abel is one of my favorites. However, I have to confess that for so many years I was looking at it the wrong way. Instead of seeing how they exercised their faith before God, I was focused on their deeds. Abel brought a better offering to God than Cain. Okay, I need to make sure that what I give to God must be worth a lot, it should be something that means a lot to me. Well, you can give something like that to God and it would still not glorify Him. Why? Let us go back to the importance of faith.

Earlier, I mentioned the emphasis that "without faith it is impossible to please God." Not just difficult but outright impossible. Technically, both Abel's and Cain's offerings were pretty good. However, the main and very important detail is the reason why they were offering something.

While the effort may be commendable, the moment we do things not bounded by our personal relationship with the Lord (i.e faith) is the moment we are starting to rely on works. God is not impressed with grandeur but what he wants from us is the right heart. So let us learn to ask ourselves, "why am I doing this?" Is it because I know this is what God wants me to do or because this is something that seems right?

Enoch

I was and still am amazed with how Enoch lived his life. One very important detail that I would like to emphasize is that Enoch walked with God. Really. Enoch exemplified what it means to staying away from random places doing some random things. Instead, he stayed where he should be – at the center of God's will. Isn't it pretty obvious that God was pleased with him?

At the end of the day, faith is not about a simple definition. It's not a particular action. It's not fireworks. It's not belief. Faith is doing things based on what God wants for us. Faith is about knowing who God is and committing to surrendering our lives to Him knowing with full confidence that He delivers. We live according to who He is not according to who we are or the people/circumstances around us.

He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. (Hebrews 5:2 NIV)

While this may be a great comfort for us seeing that God knows the struggle that we're going through and maybe, just maybe will cut us some slack every time we succumb to weakness. No! That should definitely not be our mindset.

Christ himself was subject to weaknesses. That is definitely true.  Before I only saw this as empathy, understanding, and a reminder that if Christ himself was subject to weaknesses and yet was able to overcome them, I can also do so. However, God revealed to me some insights that challenged me to go beyond that.

The reality of tempations/weaknesses in life

Wherever we go or whatever our state in life is, the reality is as long as we are in this world, we are battling against temptations/weaknesses. Denying that reality won't help us in any way. It just leads to a false sense of peace. Instead, we need to be proactive and geared to fight whatever temptations/weaknesses that come our way.

However, before we fight, we should know as much information as we can. This is actually related to a future topic I will definitely be sharing with you about how our hearts, minds, and legs work together toward spiritual maturity. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Denying a reality is contrary to the principle of fighting. In fact, the Bible says a lot of things about seeking counsel before going into action. This also aligns with what God taught me yesterday that it's not about denying about the reality of temptations/weaknesses but the decision to fight them. Remember, a child of God should not leave room for sin.

The individual who truly repents, not only sees sin to be detestable and vile and worthy of abhorrence, but he really abhors it, and hates it in his heart. A person may see sin to be hurtful and abominable, while yet his heart loves it, and desires it, and clings to it. But when he truly repents, he most heartily abhors and renounces it. – Charles Finney

Accepting the reality does not mean living in defeat

While we accept the reality of having temptations/weaknesses, we don't allow ourselves to be defeated. God has a lot promises about us having victory over sin and Satan, that we have been equipped to live holy lives, that we can approach the throne of grace with confidence, etc.

The truth is, God has already us the necessary things to fight. Aside from that, He promises us that He is always there to keep us. What is important to understand though is one must have humility in order to just be nothing before the Lord, to let Him mold us into whoever we should be. This is actually one of the things that Christ demonstrates, the unadulterated dependence to the Father.

In conclusion, the challenge for us is to make sure that we have the desire to live life holy and pleasing before the Lord. That's the first step. What comes next is to start living by faith in the Lord by understanding what His instructions are promises are. Then, the important thing is to start moving in line with God's instructions, fully-dependent on Him.

What can I say? The joy of seeing the potential of God's working is so great that! I sincerely pray that we all see that, experience that, and live that.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30 NIV)

To love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. That's the first and greatest commandment. Love is the basis of my personal relationship with the Lord (and yours too of course). In fact, the Bible clearly states that loving the Lord means obeying His commands.

The reason I'm writing this piece is that I want to make it clear to myself and I hope you'll get something out of it too. What does it mean to love with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength?

Heart

While biologists may frown upon the use of the heart as the symbol of emotions and love, it's not just as cheesy if not the heart.

Loving the Lord with all my heart means that I am consumed with the desire to please Him. I used to think that spiritual maturity means writing off emotions. However, I quickly saw that God Himself is characterized by a lot of powerful emotions including love, peacefulness, wrath, joy, and so much more. Emotions are powerful and aligning them towards what is good and pleasing for the Lord can allow me to experience wonderful things. What better focus than to love the Lord with all my heart, that I am consumed with my desire to please Him?

Soul

The soul is the consolidation of everything that makes a person. This includes personality, experiences, reason, thinking, etc. This is basically the inner being of a person. It is every exciting to imagine that loving God with all my soul means my whole being is focused on expressing that. The truth is, this should be natural as this is God's design for me from the start.

Mind

When it comes to analysis, decision-making, and logic, the mind comes to mind (got that?).

What does it mean to love the Lord with all my mind? I haven't been trying to solve mathematical equations for a long time already but those things tend to leave a mark. Anyway, when trying to solve an equation, a very important factor is the given. It practically influences the approach to be taken leading towards a solution. With this analogy, I saw that the involvement of God in my life is a given. Whenever, I make a decision, it is driven by the Lord. My priorities? Influenced by the Lord.

Hence, loving the Lord with all my mind means my priorities and decision-making are both influenced heavily by my desire to please God.

Strength

I think loving the Lord with all my strength is what brings together all these things. It means that all my actions and all my efforts are concentrated on my sole objective in life–to please God. Whatever fills my heart, mind, and soul reflects on my actions.

By this time, I hope you have already noticed two recurring themes. Loving the Lord means we are bent on pleasing him and loving the Lord means our actions reflect that desire.

In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3 NIV)

Let me repeat. To love God is to obey Him and that shouldn't be a burden for me. How can it be when my heart, soul, mind, and strength work together with the most important focus that I can ever have– to please God.

After a few years, it underwent a major change or what I called a rebranding. It was at that moment that I realized that I don't want this to just be a place for dumping random tidbits about my life. I wanted it to be a source of encouragement and a source of learnings about life in general. A lot of depth and definitely nothing random.

In a span of one year, I was pretty happy with how things went. I may not be able to post new content as much as I would've liked but every time I posted something, I felt more contented than before.

Now, it's time for another major change. Effective today, a new author has become part of My Daily Two Cents. From now on, you will be seeing posts written by <. Please don't judge me about my choice of pseudonyms. Anyway, I am very excited about this new chapter for My Daily Two Cents. < has been very supportive of this blog and in fact was instrumental in the rebranding and eventually the realignment.

Earlier, I told < that My Daily Two Cents may not be literally daily but my desire is that everything you read here would be worth more than two cents. We are excited for more opportunities to share with you all the things that God has been teaching us in different aspects of our lives. May God bless you all! :)

-- ?

During a meeting with family, I was trying to show to them the issues I've been encountering with the whole process. I was also explaining that this is something that the provider should resolve. During that time, I could hear my voice going up a few octaves and I could feel my eyebrows meeting halfway already. Of course I tried to calm myself because I know my response is wrong and to be honest, this has been a struggle a lot of times already.

After that meeting, I prayed to God to teach me to have more self-control. I confessed my fault before Him and just asked for guidance on how I can respond better in the future. The thought of saying sorry crossed my mind but I dismissed it telling myself that not responding the same way in the future should be more than enough. I knew deep in my heart that my pride is getting the best of me. Indeed, God revealed to me that I should swallow my pride and apologize.

During my quiet time in Matthew 5, I was drawn to verses 22-24.

22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

I was struck with the thought that I'm encouraging hypocrisy telling other people that as children of God, we should learn to value one another and to make sure that we don't allow any form of anger to remain. It wasn't easy mustering up the courage and to firmly decide that I should do it.

I knew that humility can be a very difficult thing to practice. It was honestly extra difficult considering that this is my family. However, at that moment of indecision, God reminded me that all the more I should challenge myself to do it because how I respond to situations and how I obey God is an encouragement to the closest people in my life--my family. I may not control how they respond to the grace of God but I can definitely control my own responses. Hence, I decided to obey the Lord and expressed my apologies to them without worrying anymore of the unimportant what-ifs.

Character issues are never easy to deal with. However, God always assures us of His grace in every aspect of our lives. Obeying Him moment by moment, no matter how difficult it may seem, always leads to better things and I'm always sure about that.

In 2 Corinthians 1, we are immediately confronted with the truth that God is the God of comfort.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)

Only God can completely comfort us and rescue us from whatever we're going through. Apart from the assurance of His sovereignty, we are also assured of His compassion. Hence, whenever we face trials of any sort, our mindset should be that God is our sole source of comfort. Yes, people can become His instruments but everything is orchestrated by God.

But how about if I feel so ashamed to reach out to God because of my circumstances? Well, that's also a valid emotion but our response shouldn't be to draw away from the Lord. In times like this, we should all the more humble ourselves and seek the Lord. This is when we need God's grace the most. No matter how battered we are, no matter how lost we feel, God will always help us in our time of need.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16, NIV)

Maybe this is so much easier for those who are so mature in the Lord, but what about me? Well, as common as discrimination is in this world, that's not something we should worry about when it comes to God. The moment we decide to seek His help, He will do so no matter what our circumstances. We may feel so distant from the Lord, so unworthy (aren't we all?), so battered, or whatever we try to call ourselves, God loves us so much and will redeem us. In 2 Corinthians 1:8, it says there that Paul (this is Paul we're talking about) himself despaired of life itself. Can you imagine someone like Paul reaching that point? But then in the following verse, he is reminded that he should rely on God's grace alone. Shouldn't we all rely on God's grace which is more than enough for us?

Remember, no matter how tempting it is to just fix ourselves using our own means, we should take the easy way and just approach the Lord with humility in our hearts. His grace is the best comfort we can ever receive.

However, I want to provide some thoughts about Moses and his role in Exodus. This is mainly because the person I was talking to knew someone who presented Moses as a revolutionary who exposed the injustices experienced by the Israelites and demanded their freedom.

The first thing I pointed out was that in the case of Moses, God's leading was very clear. Moses didn't just wake up one morning and say to himself, "I'm woke! Time to go to Egypt and rescue the people from the hands of the Egyptians." In fact, God set the stage and made it every clear to Moses what should be done and why. One interesting thing to note here was that Moses was very hesitant to do this at first.

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11, NIV)

And then again...

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 4:10, NIV)

With every question that Moses presented, God had a clear answer. Everything was already laid down.

With that in mind, it is clear that God commissioned Moses to accomplish something. It was a mission, specifically a rescue mission designed to bring the Israelites away from their misery. Not a protest if I may say.

Didn't Moses speak up for the rights of the Israelites? Didn't he demand that the Israelites be freed from their current state? Yes, he did. However, we need to take note that everything that Moses did and every word that came out of his mouth were from God. Now that's something we need to be very mindful about.

I understand that sometimes it's so much easier to just take matters into our own hands. Unfortunately, this doesn't really end well for us. Finite wisdom and emotions don't really work well together. Imagine if Moses did that. Do you think he would be successful?

If we want to do our part as Christians, let's stick to what God is instructing us to do. There will always be injustices in this broken world of us. Things won't ever be fair. It's not up to us to fix things. It is the Lord who will do that. If He calls us to do something, then that's the time we do something. Moses and even Paul were not revolutionaries. They had a mission and they accomplished it. They didn't start poking around and see what sticks. From the start, God told them exactly what needs to be done and how it should be done.  

If we want to do our part as Christians, let's continue seeking the Lord and continue to allow Him to transform our lives. Not speaking out verbally doesn't necessarily correlate with tolerance. It could be that our effectivity lies in praying fervently to God about it. Or maybe it could be that striking meaningful conversations with someone is our contribution. Or maybe our silence is the only effective way for us to develop something in our character. The point is, there are countless ways that God can use us and that's not up to us to decide. If God wants you to go out into the streets, He will clearly tell you how to do that the right way.

If we want to do our part as Christians, let's lift up our holy hands in prayer. Isn't God more powerful than all our words or actions?

The God of the universe is not blind to what's happening around us. Let's not forget that. Let's not take matters into our own hands.

As a child of God, it is the truth of God's Word that brought me to the realization that I was lost and I needed help.

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
‭‭(John‬ ‭8:32‬,‭ NIV‬‬)

It was truth that made me see the sorry state of my life back then.

It was truth that gave me hope that I can be redeemed.

It was truth that made me see that God already paved the way for me to be saved.

It was truth that helped me decide to accept Christ as my personal lord and saviour.

When it comes to the value of truth, nothing changes after salvation. In fact, as a disciple the role of TRUTH must be firmly-established. So what are these roles when it comes to our growth and maturity as children of God?

1. The truth identifies us as children of God. A good understanding of who we are gives us a better insight on how we should live. When the going gets tough, it makes it so much easier if we are anchored to the truth.
2. The truth reveals sin and at the same time, it helps us in overcoming sin. Once we accept that there is a sin problem, God's word is the only weapon that we need to come to a resolution.
3. The truth reminds us of who we are in the Lord. If we have no room for the transforming power of God's word in our lives, it makes it easier to do what goes against our identity.
4. The truth is our pattern of living.
5. The truth reveals the heart. When confronted with the truth, how do we respond to it?

While this is definitely not an exhaustive list, the obvious reality is that we need to take every opportunity in knowing the truth, living by the truth, and proclaiming the truth.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18, NIV)

It's been more than a week since I experienced grief that made me stumble as if I was on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. When asked how I was doing, my canned response was that I'm sad and tired but I'm okay. Unfortunately, instead of undergoing the process of grief in a healthy way, I became numb and failed to acknowledge that I was still hurting which was way more difficult than I could ever imagine.

Within a few days, I started feeling bad. I was physically exhausted and experiencing a lot of aches that I couldn't explain. Emotionally, I started to feel withdrawn and unhappy about a lot of things. I was functioning but it felt like I was just dragging myself just for the sake of saying I'm okay. It was then that I decided to be honest with the Lord about what I'm feeling.

Meditating on Psalm 73, the Lord spoke to me about anxiety, discontent, struggles, and most importantly, His grace.

I honestly didn't feel anxious although someone told me during a conversation that maybe the reason I wasn't feeling okay was because of anxiety. As I was meditating the Word of God, I came to accept that I was anxious and that is affecting me not only emotionally but also spiritually and physically. I was denying what I was feeling for the sake of being strong.

Once I accepted the fact that I was feeling anxious, the next question I asked myself was why. The answer was in discontent which stemmed from the fact that I was making other people as the basis of what I should be feeling or how I should be doing things. When we do that, either we wonder why they’re more successful than us or we wonder why we seem to lack struggles as hard as they experience. In short, I was questioning myself why I don't seem to be following the step-by-step process of grief that other people commonly experience.

Okay, I kept telling myself before that there is no one-size-fits-all way of dealing with stuff. I didn't expect that I would fail in this aspect. The reality is that we face different situations and we go through stuff at different paces. We only need to know one thing, that God is our refuge. He holds us in His mighty hands.

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by right hand. v24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. v25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. v26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:23-26 NIV)

I was lovingly rebuked by the Lord. I was trying so hard to act like everything's fine, that I'm okay. Instead of healing, I became more wounded. However, God reminded me that struggling is not something to be ashamed of. I must stop being deceived with the thought that a “not okay” heart is not acceptable in the presence of the Lord. All the more I must come near God.

At this point in time, I'm not afraid to admit that I'm still grieving. It may take days, weeks, months, or even years before I am done but that doesn't define who I am in the Lord. What I'm holding on to right now is that God's grace is sufficient for me no matter what I'm going through.

Before going deeper, let me lay down some basics:

1. We, as children of God, must rely on God's Word as our sole authority;
2. We are meant to enjoy God's grace and mercy; and
3. We are accountable to God when it comes to our actions.

Let's discuss those points one by one in reverse order. First (or third), we need to emphasize the fact that we are accountable before God when it comes to our actions. We cannot make other people accountable for our actions, no matter how hard they push our buttons.

So then, each of us will give an account ourselves to God. (Romans 14:12, NIV)

This accountability is the precedent we need to work with when attempting to answer the question on how we should practice our freedom.

The second point brings us to the core point that we have been afforded grace and mercy by Christ himself and this allows us to enjoy the freedom that we have right now. However, we must not forget that this freedom came with a price and is not meant for us to place ourselves higher than other people, for us to use as a license to commit sin, or to cause other people to stumble.

But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. (1 Corinthians 8:9, ESV)

The reason I'm sharing my thoughts about these things in the context of the crisis we're facing is because of it pays to remind ourselves that amidst the differing opinions in terms of politics, government response, volunteer work, or whatever example you can think of, these things don't define our identity in Christ. As Christians, we should continue to anchor ourselves to the grace of God. We must be careful that we don't start judging people just because they have different stands.

The last point, which will also serve as my conclusion is the non-negotiable truth that at the end of the day, whatever preferences we have, we must still bound ourselves to the authority of God's Word and God's leading as to how we should respond to every situation we face.

There's a lot of things that are considered disputable matters meaning the Bible does not explicitly state which is right or wrong and we're free to decide on our own but at the end of the day, we must make sure that what we decide on must glorify God and is meant to build up fellow members of the body of Christ. Freedom is not a license to do what we want but the opportunity to fully enjoy the grace of God in our lives.

The reality is that working from home is not as easy as we think it is. For the past few days, I've been swapping stories with other people about how we prepare ourselves day by day and how to make sure that we maintain a sense of stability amidst the circumstances.

Quickly develop a routine

One common misconception that a lot of people have is that working from home is just a matter of not getting up early in the morning and traveling to the office. Some even joke that this means you can just reach for your laptop and start working while still in bed. Unfortunately, at least for me, that's not really sustainable. I'll fall asleep immediately or spend the rest of the day feeling lethargic.

Developing a routine is the signal that our body receives that we are shifting from rest to work. In my case, what I do is to make sure that each working day, I follow the same schedule of eating breakfast, exercising, taking a shower, and starting work.

Set boundaries

A few days back, I came across an article saying that working from home doesn't mean you have to work all the time. This is something that I agree with and is an important aspect in setting boundaries. Personally, I set boundaries in the form of time and location. What does this mean?

Setting boundaries in terms of time means even though we're at home, we must only work at a set schedule. Although it may be the case that there are special circumstances where we have to work beyond that, that shouldn't be something we do all the time. This helps us in establishing a routine as well.

Boundaries in terms of location is simple. Don't work in bed. It might be tempting to do that especially when it's cold (thankfully that's not the case right now) but it's just not worth it. It will just make things difficult in the long run. Another important exercise is to designate just a specific area at home where you do your work. Ideally, this would be a desk where you have everything set up. Once again, this is also something that helps us establish a routine.

Take the opportunity to socialize

Whether we like it or not, human beings are social by nature. Although each one of us may have unique ways of expressing this, we all yearn for the opportunity to interact with human beings even for just a short time. Even for an introvert such as myself, I proved to myself over and over again that it's just not healthy without the social component.

Although tweaks might be needed, this is also the perfect opportunity to promote a sense of normalcy by continuing to do things such as taking breaks together with workmates. As an example, at least once a week, we schedule a videoconference where we drink coffee, share updates, and just catch up on non-work matters.

While working from home is something that provides value even outside the context of a pandemic, we need to work (what an irony) to make sure that we are able to reap the benefits. The key is establishing routine. While these tips have greatly benefited my work from home experience, I'm sure that there a lot more tips out there.

If you wish to share additional tips on how to be more effective while working from home, please feel free to write a comment below.

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.