My wife and I host a few young adults every Sunday evening at our house. I enjoy cooking. So, every alternate Sunday, I cook for about 15-20 people. I love serving the best. One Sunday, I decided to do two to three dishes. I started cooking late, and to say that my menu was over-ambitious is an understatement. In the rush of cooking everything in time, I used all four burners on my gas top. Anyone who says you can multitask efficiently and effectively is a liar. Ultimately, my kitchen looked like a war zone with casualties all over. I had almost spoiled all the dishes. People were at home, and I had nothing to feed them. It was impossible to provide fifteen people with what we had at home. Discouraged and frustrated, I resorted to ordering online. 

We have a similar situation in Mark 6. Jesus is entertaining and engaging a vast crowd. It says 5,000 people. It looks like a big fat Indian wedding. It is getting late, and people have nothing to eat. The disciples come to Jesus and say look around; we are in the desert. There are no orchards, no takeaway joints, and no hospitable houses. There is a crisis in the desert—lack of sustenance. People, including children, would have been tired of following Jesus through the day in the desert. It will be brutal and cruel to send them back hungry. The disciples’ solution is to send them away. 

When we face the heat of the desert, tired and hungry from the onslaught of life, our solutions to the crisis are often desperate measures. Like me—ordering online and spending a lot, or like the disciples, we tell God, I think this is the best way out. We often think of all the possible ways to wiggle out of that crisis. Prayer or faithful consideration goes out of the window. We take matters into our hands and cut short a situation that God purposed to elongate for our growth. 

Just before this incident, disciples had performed miracles in healing people and casting out demons. The disciples to whom Jesus had given the authority are now powerless to provide. And they say send them away. You and I have seen God work in impossible situations in us and through us, yet in the desert season, we forget that and forge our path out of the crisis. Not only do we forget that, but we also forget whom we serve. Disciples knew Jesus’s power. Yet, they don’t ask him to feed them. They not only underestimate their ability but even God’s.

We know the rest of the story. Jesus sends them to find loaves. They find five loaves and two fish, and Jesus feeds the five thousand with the little they have, and they have 12 baskets left over. 

Before I could order food online, my wife walked into the kitchen. She knew I lost it. She told me to go out, breathe, and then return. I went out of the kitchen, took two minutes, and went back in. Something struck me, and I began cooking again. I could not serve the whole menu, but I did enough to satisfy all who came. 
At times we need to zoom out and be still in his presence. To see who he is and who we are. The Desert is a place of great revelation, where God manifests his power and reveals our potential when we lean on him. Some of you are going through that phase. In faith, rely on him and do what he asks of you. And you will see the revelation of his power and your potential in the desert.