My boys and I are reading through the book of Mark and we were reading chapter 8 when verse 4 jumped out to me. Jesus had compassion on the multitude because they had been with Him for three days and He wanted to feed them. His disciples answered
“How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”
I read that question and immediately thought about another question from Psalm 78:19:
“Yes, they spoke against God: they said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?”
Did the disciples forget who they were walking with? They were walking with Jesus, God in the flesh, the Bread of Life. The same One who sent manna from heaven to feed their ancestors. The same One who made water burst forth from a rock. The Bread of Life and Living Water was walking with them.
In the Old Testament the children of Israel ate angels’ food and were well filled.
How quickly the disciples forgot all the wonders God did for their ancestors. How quickly they forgot how He fed the five thousand to the full with twelve baskets of leftovers. Surely they believed He could and would do it again for the four thousand. If He multiplied the fives loaves, surely He could multiply the seven loaves.
So, back to the question from Psalm 78:19... Can He prepare a table in the wilderness? The dry, lonely, and barren wilderness? Yes! He absolutely can! He is a good and faithful Father and He takes care of His children. He is faithful even if we are faithless. He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies and yes He will prepare a table for us in the wilderness as well. Not only will He prepare a table in the wilderness, but at times we are in the wilderness because He has led us there. He leads us to desert places to be alone with us, to show us His vision, to speak comfort to us, to reveal His power.
Hosea 2:14-15 says:
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.”
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.”
He sets tables in the wilderness and makes valleys of trouble become doors of hope. That’s our God!
The disciples were on a journey learning to trust their God fully. Jesus proved to be trustworthy every. single. time. Even when Jesus told them their friend Lazarus’ sickness would not end in death, yet Lazarus died. What they saw looked like the total opposite of what they heard until Jesus called their friend to come out of the tomb! He is trustworthy! We can believe Him! If He says it, we will believe it!
Our walk with Him is much like the disciples, learning to trust Him in everything. Sometimes we quickly forget who we are walking with too. We forget that we walk with the Lion of Judah, our Protector. We forget that we walk with our Healer, Provider, and Savior. We forget we walk with the One who death bows to, nothing is impossible for Him. In every circumstance whether it’s sickness, poverty, or even death, may we remember who we are walking with and may our response continually be:
“I trust you Jesus.”
“Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgements of His mouth... He remembers His covenant forever, the Word which He commanded, for a thousand generations.”
Psalm 105:5, 8
We can remember who we walk with and trust Him fully because He will never forget us nor leave us and He will remember His covenant with us forever.
There’s a song called “Remember” that prompts us to remember who we are walking with:
How quickly we forget the God
Who lives in every day
How easy to lose sight that You
Reside in the mundane
How quickly we forget the power
That's running through our veins
The kind of power that empties graves
Who lives in every day
How easy to lose sight that You
Reside in the mundane
How quickly we forget the power
That's running through our veins
The kind of power that empties graves
And oh my soul
Remember who you're talking to
The only one who death bows to
That's the God who walks with you
Remember who you're talking to
The only one who death bows to
That's the God who walks with you
And oh my soul
You know that if He did it then
He can do it all again
His power can still raise the dead
Don't tell me that He's finished yet
You know that if He did it then
He can do it all again
His power can still raise the dead
Don't tell me that He's finished yet
Lest we not forget the voice
That's holding back the waves
Was once the voice that told the skies
To pour them into place
Let us join the endless song of everlasting praise
The only God who empties graves
That's holding back the waves
Was once the voice that told the skies
To pour them into place
Let us join the endless song of everlasting praise
The only God who empties graves
Oh my soul
Remember who you're talking to
The only one who death bows to
That's the God who walks with you
Remember who you're talking to
The only one who death bows to
That's the God who walks with you
And oh my soul
You know that if He did it then
He can do it all again
His power can still raise the dead
Don't tell me that He's finished yet
You know that if He did it then
He can do it all again
His power can still raise the dead
Don't tell me that He's finished yet
If You broke through the oceans
You can break through these chains
If Your word made the mountains
It can move them all the same
If death fell before You
And it's still on its face
Then the power that raised You
Is about to move again
You can break through these chains
If Your word made the mountains
It can move them all the same
If death fell before You
And it's still on its face
Then the power that raised You
Is about to move again
