God's Provision, Mark 8:1-21 NKJV
1 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."
4 Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?" 5 He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven." 6 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.
7 They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. 8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. 9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. and He sent them away, 10 immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12 But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."
13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."
17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twleve." 20 "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they said, "Seven." 21 So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"
They had just witnessed a profound miracle: Jesus again fed a large multitude of people with a minute amount of food, and again the disciples collected baskets full of leftover food. But when they saw that they themselves had no bread for their journey, they began to worry and be concerned, so much so that when Jesus tries to warn them about the Pharisees and Herod that they immediately assume that He is talking to them about their bread situation. But Jesus reminds them of the miraculous feeding of the vast multitudes of people that His disciples themselves had witnessed, showing them that their not having enough bread was of no consequence to Him, for He could easily feed them to the full with what they had, as demonstrated by His miracles.
But His disciples don't seem to understand. They are oblivious to what Jesus is saying about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, and are concerned with their own bellies, despite Jesus' having proved to them over and over that they needn't be concerned with such things, that they are under His control and He has love and compassion enough to supply all their needs. They missed out on a deeper lesson because they were looking at things in their flesh rather than spiritually discerning divine truth and committing their provision necessities to God.
Oh, this is so like us! We are such simple-minded, poor, pathetic sheep desperately in need of a Shepherd! God does miracles in our lives, even miracles having to do with this same thing, provision, and yet when the next time we need to be provided for we panic and start to focus on the earthly, tangible things rather than trusting in God and focusing on what He would have us to learn through this time of need.
And how foolish this is! He has promised us that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness that all these things (our earthly needs) will be given unto us (Matthew 6:25-33). He has promised that if we lose our lives for His sake we will find them (Matthew 16:25). He has said, "I know the plans I have for you, plans of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope," (Jeremiah 29:11). He can do abundantly beyond all we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), He is faithful even when we are faithless, for He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). There are miriads of promises of God's faithfulness, His ability to provide, His willingness to provide, and His wanting us to rest in Him and trust in Him, to seek Him first and He will take care of our earthly needs.
It seems so easy. But why don't we do it? We must simply trust in God, walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), and cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). It is not simply enough to know that Jesus can provide for us, but we must believe it and act upon it. There is no situation that may befall you that He is not aware of, no matter how much it seems that He is out of the picture, He is in full and total control. Simply look to Him, remember His past faithfulness, and don't let the doubts of the enemy come in and poison your heart. As Jesus Himself has said (Mark 5:36),