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Second Verse Same as the First

“’How are we supposed to find enough food for them here in the wilderness?’ his disciples asked.  ‘How many loaves of bread do you have?’ he asked.  ‘Seven’ they replied.  So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground.  Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd.  A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to pass them out.  They ate until they were full, and when the scraps were picked up, there were seven large baskets of food left over!  There were about four thousand people in the crowd that day, and he sent them home after they had eaten” – Mark 8:4-9 (NLT).

Every time I read this story I think, “Second verse, same as the first!”  The disciples still hadn’t learned.  They were standing around wondering how they were ever going to feed this huge crowd of people and began to voice their doubts. 

Hello?  Is anybody home?  The lights are on but nobody is home!  Hello, we’ve been here before, haven’t we?  Yes we have.  It was only a short time ago that Jesus fed five thousand men plus women and children with five loaves and two fishes (see Mark 6:35-44).  You would think the disciples would have learned from that experience to trust God to come through for them.  But they hadn’t learned.  They still had the same unbelief; the same mistrust; the same doubts; the same spiritual blindness.

We humans can be like that.  We tend to have to learn the same lessons repeatedly before we remember them.  I know I do.  We would be so much better off in life if we would just learn to trust God and know that he can come through for us.

Case in point.  In two weeks my employment with the school where I’m teaching runs out (it was a temporary assignment).  Now I’ve been at peace about it all along feeling sure that God will provide me with a job or full time ministry in a timely fashion.  Of course, I have done my part and sought to find work while simultaneously looking for full time ministry opportunities over the past year.  So far, all the doors have closed.

Now as many times as God has come through for me in the past, you would think that I wouldn’t have even one worrisome thought about any of this.  You would think that I would sleep soundly at night, every night.  God has proven himself true to me time and again in the past when it comes to providing for me and mine.  And, I am happy to report that up until this week, I have slept well, and felt at complete peace about my situation.

But I’ve noticed the past couple days, my stress levels have been rising.  As the time draws nearer to my job ending, I am becoming more concerned.  Hello Steve?  Is anybody home?  Wake up!  God won’t let you down Steve.  Trust him.  He’ll come through.  You see, I have to relearn this lesson, or so it would seem, because the “worry wart” in me wants to come alive in times like this.  It’s second verse, same as the first.  I need to review God’s track record of faithfulness in my life and trust him now. 

How about you?  Is it second verse same as the first in your life?  Are you facing a difficult situation that is stressful or worrisome?  Are you just sure that your life is over and your whole world is going to fall apart?

Review God’s track record in your life.  Right now, where you are, take a minute to think over all the times he has come through for you.  Write it down if you need to.  But remember.  If the disciples had done this, they would have quickly dragged out the memory of Jesus feeding the five thousand only days or weeks earlier, and not worried at all about feeding this smaller crowd.

Don’t be a “second verse same as the first” kind of Christian.  Don’t repeat your past mistrust of God and his ability to love and provide for you.  Don't drag out yesterday's unbelief and repeat it today.  Take a new road this time.  Choose to remember just how great God is, and just how much he has done for you so far.

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