Whence shall we buy bread?

When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do, (John 6:5-6).

These verses very nicely sum up the reason behind my relative stress-free attitude and outlook on life. To be clear, stress-free does not mean ‘irresponsible’ or ‘careless.’ I give much thought and care to the day-to-day affairs of my work and the ‘business’ of being the sole breadwinner and head of my household. But there’s a place beyond this, where one cannot help but fret and second-guess everything from whether we’ll be alive and healthy, to whether we will have food and shelter in the coming days, months, years. To live in fear of the opinions of others, to live with the uncertainty of a future you can very easily picture as tormenting, instead of easy and secure. These curses, I am happy to admit, are not a part of my life. Why? Because when Jesus asks, whence (where from) shall we buy bread, that these may eat? I would answer, “I don’t know. But surely you know, my Lord.”

Whence shall we buy bread?

Who cannot relate to this question? Unless you are among the wealthiest class, born into earthly riches and pampered by them all your life, at some point or another we have all asked ourselves, “whence shall we buy bread?” In one of my favorite songs of all time by Bob Marley, Is This Love, the lyrics say,

I wanna love you

And treat you right

I wanna love you

Every day and every night

We'll be together

With a roof right over our heads

We'll share the shelter

Of my single bed

We'll share the same room, yeah

For Jah provide the bread

“For Jah (God) provides the bread.” As we read on, we’ll see whether Philip knew enough, that is, had enough faith, to answer the question as either myself or Bob Marley would have answered it. That said, hindsight is 20/20. It’s very easy for us to sit here and cast judgment on Philip (if he was baffled by the inquiry), since in all fairness, they were in the middle of the wilderness and physically speaking, there was no place to buy bread. But even a mildly knowledgeable Jew should have had reference to the Israelites’ wanderings in the desert, and how manna, the bread of heaven, rained down on them fresh with the dew of each evening. Notice the verse itself fills us in on information withheld from Philip at the time, And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. My friend, could not the Lord Jesus be doing the same with you and me today? Proving us with the question, “whence shall ye buy bread?”

As mentioned earlier in the chapter, I am fortunate enough not to have to ask myself this question, daily. But think for a moment just how tenuous and precarious this self-sufficiency is, for most of us! What if the world’s wheat supply suddenly dries up because of global warming? What if we suffer a three-year worldwide drought? What if we lose our savings account (if we’re even fortunate/smart enough to keep a savings account) due to some unforeseen hardship? What if we lose our job? What if property prices plummet and the stock market tanks? What if the line of business that proverbially ‘puts food on the table’ dries up or becomes obsolete, as is increasingly happening to more and more people in sundry nations and economies, all around the world? What if we, or a loved one (God-forbid both), suddenly become gravely and mortally ill, and we lose our life savings in costly medical treatments, surgeries and procedures? What if our investments go belly up due to either crime, fraud or good old-fashioned market downturns? What’s the next global pandemic that will rock the very foundations of civilization? The next World War? The next technological, political or economic massive disruption?

My friends, we’re all subject to these ‘what-ifs,’ even the richest among us. So, again, “whence shall we buy bread?” Only our good Lord knows. Therefore let us thank, bless and worship Him from the bottom of our heart and souls, for He alone can answer the question. Yet with every passing day that we do place bread on our tables, let us never forget Who truly is responsible for this daily blessing, that we only too often take entirely for granted.

[from To Fear God]