The Devil would have man believe that hiding from problems provides an adequate solution. This is a lie! Adam and Eve created problems for themselves by partaking of the fruit. Their initial efforts to resolve the problem further confirmed that they had created an unresolved situation of their own doing. As they heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden, they hid themselves amongst the trees in hopes that these efforts would protect them in some way. They hoped the problem would pass unnoticed without them having to face the fact that they had sinned against the Lord. The Lord would not allow them to hide; instead, He called for Adam to show himself resulting in both Adam and Eve directly facing the problem.
Man can, at times, readily recognize problems that arise, but often initially reacts with solutions to remove the problem out of sight. As the disciples looked out over the multitude in today’s passage, they saw thousands in a desert place with a lack of provisions. They quickly viewed what seemed to them as an insurmountable problem. As evening approached, they came to the Lord and suggested that He send the people away. The disciples were more comfortable with the problem if it was out of sight, out of mind, and not theirs to face. Their suggestion was an unacceptable solution. For this reason, the Lord put the problem back upon the disciples when He said to them, “Give ye them to eat” (Mark 6:37). In other words, the problem would not go away or solve itself. The Lord directed the disciples to find a solution and their turning a blind eye was completely unacceptable.
Any person who truly loves the Lord has a strong desire to worship Him. Yet, we frequently fail to realize the various opportunities of worship. The Bible closely connects worship to the word worth, much like the word praise is closely connected to the word appraisal. When we worship the Lord, we declare what we think about His worth to us. Perhaps, you never considered that true confession of sins to a holy God declares God’s worth to you. We see this in our passage when confession and worship are mentioned together (Nehemiah 9:3). When we confess our sins to the Lord, we are telling God that we desire His fellowship more than we desire the pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25).
