Mark 8:13-21 (The Message) --- 13-15 He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn't a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, "Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod." 16-19 Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, "Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don't you see the point of all this? Don't you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?" They said, "Twelve." 20 "And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?" (They answered) "Seven." 21 He said, "Do you still not get it?"
We are so often like the disciples. All around us God is working and has been working. Even miracles happen. Lives are changed. Yet we fail to see what is going on. We may even acknowledge what happened, but a few minutes or days later we forget.
That is the story these verses tell. The disciples were there and helped when Jesus fed 5,000 people. A few days later Jesus fed another 4,000 people. No meals were catered. Jesus blessed the stuff they had and made a little bit go a long way. Those were huge miracles.
Then, the disciples who are tired and ready for a break forget to take some food on their next trip. You can imagine the conversation among those men in the boat. Some of them may even have been short tempered and such. Jesus heard their conversations and was shocked by how they forgot what he had just done.
Are we like that? Do we see God work in some way and then turn our heads commenting that we don't have what we need? Or, do we worry about is going to happen?
Jesus as Jesus warned the disciples, he is warning us. Our lives get far too complicated and busy. We get all bogged down in the situations that come up, and we forget that God is able. We forget that God wants to work in and around us. We forget to trust God.
What happens when we trust God? We will see miracles happen. And he will do it again.
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