O You of Little Faith!

Mt 16:5 -11¶ Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread." But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? "Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? "Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? "How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? --but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

Here Jesus is trying to warn the disciples of the man-made doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees by using the leaven in bread as an object lesson. He tries to show them that legalism is like yeast. Once it gets started it grows and grows affecting everyone touched by it. However, the disciples didn't understand what Jesus was getting at and being simple-minded could only think that He was chiding them for forgetting to bring bread to eat. Jesus reminds them of the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand, how he fed these multitudes with just a few loaves of bread. His main point about the legalistic doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees was lost to the disciples because they were not trusting that Jesus could provide bread for them since they had forgotten to bring any along. They had forgotten quickly about how Jesus provided before.

How often have I begun to fret that my needs will not be met because I have forgotten how God has provided in the past? I wonder how many times there has been a lesson that God is trying to teach me in the middle of some trial, but the lesson is lost on me because I am too caught up worrying about how God is going to provide for my needs? Do you see yourself in this picture too?

One way to help you trust God more and learn the lessons He has to teach you is to write down in a journal how God has blessed and provided for you in the past. If you write it down, then when the next trial comes, you can look back and see God's provision for you in the past and know that He will provide for you this time too. This relieves you of the worry over what will happen and allows you to be open to learn the lessons He has to teach you through whatever your circumstance happens to be.

Dear Father, We are so prone to forget Your provision in times past. Help us to make it a point to write those things down so we will not forget Your past blessings and our faith will be strengthened in You. Amen.