READING: Numbers 26-28, Mark 8
“Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?”
Mark 8:18
I’ve been a professor for more than 20 years. Most of the time, I’ve had great students who love the Lord and who appreciate the opportunity to learn. They’re a great joy. Occasionally, though, I’ve had that renegade student who doesn’t pay attention. His mind is elsewhere, and he doesn’t listen well. He’s that student who asks the question I had just answered. I still want to help him because he’s my student, but he frustrates me. The words, “Don’t you ever listen? Don’t you get it?” rest on the tip of my tongue.
When that happens, I’m reminded that I’m too much like that student in my walk with God. Too often, I’m like the disciples who’ve experienced God’s blessing and miracles, but they failed to remember and apply the lessons learned. I must admit that I can tell others to trust God when internally I’m dealing with the same struggle. I know that God has never failed me in more than four decades of my being a believer, yet I sometimes wonder why it seems He is not listening to my prayers. You would think that I’d be far enough along now that I quickly recognize the lesson God’s teaching me – but that’s not always the case.
I fail to see. I don’t always listen. I forget. My heart gets hardened. I’m too much like Peter – I’m on target some days, and I miss it completely on other days. Like the disciples who struggled and the blind man who saw men who looked like trees (Mark 8:22-26), I need to understand and see better. I don’t doubt that Jesus asks of me, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:21).
It’s on those days that I’m deeply, deeply grateful for the grace of Jesus. He is the Christ, and He still loves me in spite of all my failures.
ACTION STEPS:
- Consider any areas in your life where Jesus might say to you, “Don’t you understand yet?”
- Knowing your own struggles, bask today in the grace of God.
PRAYER: “Lord, I’m amazed by the way You love me. Open my eyes to see You well.”
TOMORROW'S READING: Numbers 29-32, Mark 9:1-29
