Spiritual Amnesia

 “And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?””

‭‭Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We can easily become frustrated with the church. We can become frustrated with our fellow believers. And the reason we become frustrated is because they never seem to learn.

Even though they have read of God’s might and love in Scripture, they continue to doubt. Despite knowing how he’s worked throughout the course of history, they fail to believe. And even when they hear testimony from us, or other believers, of what God has done, they seem blind and deaf.

We fail to realize, however, that this is not unusual in the least. This was true also of the disciples in Mark 8. They had already seen Jesus miraculously feed the 5000 with only a small amount of food. But when Jesus expresses his desire to feed another crowd, this is their response.

They once again question how this can be done. They question it due to the lack of resources available to them. They do so even though Jesus is standing right there in their midst.

This leads us to ask if  they had forgotten what Jesus had done. It makes us wonder if they had suffered a head injury. Or perhaps they were suffering from amnesia.

It often seems this way. It seems this way as we read about them in the gospels. And it seems this way as we search our own heart.

We, you see, do the same. Even knowing how God has worked to save us, we doubt. Even seeing how he’s worked in our day to day lives, we fail to believe.

We never seem to learn. And, for this reason, we have to be reminded again and again. It has to be pounded into our head over and over.

I wonder if this is why Jesus performed the same miracle a second time. Despite what they’d seen, they still didn’t get it. And they needed to see it again.

This, you see, is the blessing of Scripture. It’s the blessing of reading it. And it’s the blessing of hearing it taught and preached time and again. 

We are continually reminded of who Christ is, what he has done, and the promises he’s given us. When doubt creeps in, we hear it again. And when it seems we’ve forgotten, we are reminded.