Thursday, May 11, 2023

I was working for an association of mission hospitals in India. The missionaries came to India and built huge hospitals with good infrastructure centuries ago, but today, the hospitals are difficult to sustain. Not many doctors want to serve in mission hospitals because of the low salary offered to them compared to the handsome salaries they receive in other hospitals. But the patients kept coming to mission hospitals, expecting free services. In such a scenario, it was difficult to sustain the mission hospitals and many had to be shut down. When I read this passage, I think of the patients as the multitude. As the disciples faced challenges in meeting their needs, so does the management of the remaining mission hospitals. They carry on to this day through the provision of God. The Lord Jesus tells the crowd to sit down, signifying the multitudes can eat till they are full. He intended to give them rest and provision to the fullest. As individuals, we may find our salaries too low to fulfill the needs of our families; as workers in the ministry we may find our skills and talents limited to reach out for the Gospel; as laborers we may find our strength low to accomplish the tasks set before us. Let us commit all our limited resources to the one who is the owner of the creation, and He will care for us.

Haggai has made me a more confident person. My equipping has given me the boldness to share the Gospel with everyone — the elderly, children, executives, laborers, males, females. I can reach out to anyone and speak in a way that is understandable.