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“Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?” Matthew 16:9-10

Don’t you just love the timeliness of God’s Word? For me, there are mornings of reading when the verses seem written directly to me, for that exact moment. And, I’m grateful for the consistency (and repetition) of Truth throughout the Bible. Especially when it comes to trusting God.

In the Old Testament, we can read how the Israelites experienced miracle after miracle yet continued to doubt and be anxious about their future. They were wondrously provided fresh food daily (Exodus 16), but feared they’d die of thirst (Exodus 17:3)—whining and complaining, and pining for “the good ole days,” despite promises made and kept. Ouch.

Lately, I’ve been reading the gospels chronologically. The consistency and repetition of events is always astounding, and, when it occurs, it’s like God’s adding exclamation points to the message. Remembering and trusting the Lord’s power and provision “happened” to be one of those points for me in recent days.

We all have probably heard about the “fishes and loaves”—it’s a story that’s often used by the nonbelieving world to exemplify amble provision. Rightly so. But you may not know that there are two fishes and loaves events. First, after Jesus was teaching a huge crowd of 5000 men (plus their families), He had compassion on them and told his disciples to feed them. Finding only five loaves and two fishes, they brought these morsels to Jesus, and He fed everyone—having his guys collect 12 baskets full of leftovers. (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-34; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15). How awesome is that? Surely, His disciples thought, “Man, we’ll never go hungry again with Jesus around!”

Well…

It wasn’t that much later when a similar scenario presented itself to the disciples. The crowds had been following Jesus to hear His teaching and experience healing for several days in a row, so He told his guys, again, to feed them all. Did they look at each other, excitedly, and say, “Cool! Who’s got a couple bits of bread and fish, so we can get this party started?!” Uh, no.

Despite witnessing miracle after miracle. Despite walking around with God Himself, they said to Jesus, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” (Matthew 15:33) And so the scenario was repeated. Except, here, there were 4000 men (and their families); the disciples scrounged up seven loaves and a few fish, fed everyone, and then filled up seven baskets of leftovers (Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-10). (Later, Jesus gently reprimanded them of their forgetfulness in Matthew 16:9-10.)

Does that ever happen to you? You experience the faithfulness of God’s provision, yet, even when the exact same scenario comes up, you wring your hands in worry and cry out, “Lord, how is this ever going to work out? It’s a doomed situation, I know it!” Yup, I’ve been there, done that.

Just like with the disciples, we have seen miracle after miracle. And although we’re not walking with physical Jesus, we, as believers, have the Holy Spirit in us as we spiritually walk with Jesus—this is a gift even the disciples didn’t have.

Sisters, let’s not be forgetful people like the Israelites in the desert and the disciples during Jesus’s earthly ministry. Let’s revisit and rehearse the amazing miracles the Lord has shown us in our lives. Let’s stand on the promises of His Word, His unending faithfulness, and daily mercies. Let’s continue to trust in all things working together for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).

“Lord, help me daily recall Your grace, mercy, and faithfulness, knowing You will provide for my best.”

For His Glory,

Julianne Winkler Smith
TRBC Women’s Ministry