So many times, Jesus’ disciples didn’t get it. Too often, we don’t either. The disciples had been with Jesus for years and still struggled. They had seen Jesus do SO many extraordinary miracles, giving signs and wonders to the world. This came up in discussion at one of our small group meetings during our devotional time.
We may not see the same kind of miracles in our modern time, but God is no less faithful and wonderful. We have friends who are missionaries and they have seen funds come in for a project just in time when it was committed to months before. In our church small group, we have seen God’s faithful answers as we have prayed for others who were sick, injured, struggling or in need. How do we manage to forget so quickly the good things we have seen and experienced? In my own health journey I have seen many answers to prayer. So why do I hesitate to ask for prayer or to pray myself. Is it possible that I forget his faithful nature in between my own incidents?
In spite of seeing God work in our past, we tend to get anxious when we need to trust Him with our future. The disciples had the same problem. They seemed to lose track of what they had experienced. When it came to the feeding of the 4000 they forgot that Jesus had already fed 5000. And that was just two pages back (as we read it in our Bibles, I’m sure it was a few days between the events in their time).
In Mark 8:18-20 Jesus says, Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.”
When will we learn to trust and depend on God when we know he showed us his faithfulness just two pages back.
Jesus is of course referring to the feeding of the 5000 and the 4000. All the gospels record the feeding of the 5000 (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15), but only Matthew and Mark record the feeding of the 4000 (Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-10).
When you’re struggling with some new experience, trial, test or circumstance and you’re unsure of the outcome, remember that God was there for you in the past, just two pages back.
If you’re interested in comparing the two events, read this article: https://bibleask.org/was-the-feeding-of-the-4000-and-5000-separate-events/.
Meandering Moose 