don’t you remember?

While I'm brushing, shaving, and showering, I listen to the New Testament.  It's a much more encouraging practice than my prior habit of listening to the news.

As I hear Mark 8:5, the reader adds a note of exasperation when Jesus asks His disciples, "how many loaves do you have?"   This is because Jesus asked the very same question in Mark 6:38 in the prior miracle of feeding 5000.  Some time after that, when there was 4000 in need of food, once again the disciples argued with Jesus about where they could possibly get enough food to feed such a crowd.  Jesus said again, "how - many - loaves - do - you - have?"  And, once again, Jesus blessed a small offering of bread and fish, gave it to the disciples to distribute, and all ate and were satisfied.  And if that lesson weren't enough, a short time later the disciples were in a boat, arguing about not having enough bread for the journey.  Jesus asked, "Don't you remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? [12].  And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? [7]"

Apparently, they, and we too, have a short memory when it comes to the amazing things God has done before our very eyes, sometimes with our own hands.  We have this personal and collective amnesia when it comes to believing that God could possibly do it again.  And particularly in this skeptical and materialistic culture, we think of miracles as only very occasional, if they occur at all.

We're not alone in this, of course.  The disciples dis-remembered.  And so did the Israelites.  After being delivered from Egypt, shepherded through the sea, and given water, manna, and quail, they still argue with God about what He's not doing for them.  They even preferred their miserable existence as slaves to the faith adventure of disciples-in-training.

And so, when we begin to wonder if there really is a God in our lives Who desires to care for us and use us for His Glory, we need to listen to the voice of Jesus through the Holy Spirit Who says, "don't you remember?"  He'll help us to recall the countless times, even recently, that God has come through for us and through us.  If we will stop, listen, and look, we'll be astounded.

Though Thanksgiving is over, let's encourage one another to remember, with thanksgiving.  Let's press a little more deeply into what God has done in our lives, beyond the usual gratitude for food, family, and fun.  He is at work, powerfully and pervasively, in all things.