The Power of Remembering
The Story Everyone Loves
Anyone else love a good rescue story? I sure do.
It may surprise those who know me personally, but I LOVE a good action film - especially one where someone gets rescued. I enjoy the build-up of tension, the struggle to locate the missing person, and, ultimately, the resolve when the missing party is found. Of course, this search is filled with fighting, explosions, weapons, and blood in many of these movies, which I’m NOT a fan of, but I still endure it to see the resolution. I endure it to see the rescue.
It’s the classic plotline of, dare I say, every movie. Things are going well. All of a sudden, things aren’t going well. There’s some drama, and things look hopeless. Then, at the very moment we least expect it, there’s resolve. We can’t deny it - it’s an attractive story.
Something inside of us craves a happy ending.
But while we all may enjoy watching fictional stories of actors’ lives being in shambles and then being resolved, while we may even enjoy watching true stories of other peoples’ lives being in chaos and then being resolved, let’s be honest. No one likes the storyline when they’re the main character. No one likes it when the “movie of the year” suddenly becomes their life.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in several of the gospels, but for the sake of today’s post, we’ll be reading it from the perspective of Mark, one of the authors of the four gospels found in the New Testament of the Bible. If you’ve been around church at all, you probably know what story I’m about to share because it is genuinely a “staple” in the Christian church and especially a staple in children’s church. It’s the story where Jesus takes a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish and feeds FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE. Why the emphasis on five thousand people? Because it’s a freaking lot of people. As I’m writing this post, I am working with a friend to plan a meal plan and ingredient list for a trip of 30 people, and I thought that was a lot - nearly impossible. But five thousand people? Lord, help us.
Let me set the scene for you. Jesus and His followers (disciples) were hungry and decided to get away for a while. Jesus had been surrounded by people so much that he hadn’t even had a chance to eat! So, they made their way to what the Bible calls a “remote place” (Mark 6:35), so they could have some privacy and time to eat. However, people see them departing, and they follow them. This wasn’t just a few people who happened to figure out where they were going; as I mentioned earlier, this was five thousand people following Jesus - and that number only counted the men. If you count women and children, there’s no doubt we could be looking at nearly ten thousand people who followed Jesus to this remote place. Can you imagine looking in your rearview mirror and seeing a group of ten thousand people following you? Casual, right?
Anyway, they get to this place, and Jesus starts to teach because He saw that they “were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34), and He had compassion on them. While He was teaching, His disciples came over to Him, and they were like, “Hey, Jesus. This is a lot of people. It’s getting late in the day. Why don’t you send them off to get some food?” And Jesus responded, in the most Jesus-way possible, “You feed them” (Mark 6:37). The disciples looked at each other in confusion. “Um, Jesus?” they said. “We don’t really have the money or time or supplies to feed five thousand people.” Jesus’s instruction in response was to “go and find out” how much food they had (Mark 6:38). When they returned, they reported to Jesus that they had found five loaves of bread and two fish (Mark 6:38). I can imagine right now what my friends would think if I showed up with five loaves of bread and two fish to feed our group of thirty…
But Jesus wasn’t phased. He took the five loaves and two fish, gave thanks, and multiplied it in front of everyone’s eyes. There was enough food to feed the five thousand (plus the women and children), and there were even leftovers (and all the working parents said amen!). In front of the disciples, Jesus performed a miracle that had nothing to do with supernatural healing or forgiveness of sins. Jesus performed a miracle to meet a practical need. Jesus performed a miracle so that all these people, His disciples, and Himself could eat dinner.
Amazing, right?
How the Stories Connect
Everything was going great. Then, it wasn’t. The disciples needed food desperately. And all they had was five loaves of bread and two fish - pretty hopeless, right? But then Jesus stepped on the scene and fed everyone with food to spare! The resolution happened, and it happened through a miracle! Incredible!
But what happens when the situation happens again? What happens when we see one story resolved, only to see another one come up with the same plotline?
What happens when God heals once, and then the sickness comes back? What happens when God provides once, and you’re in need again? What happens when God brings someone special into your life, and then they leave, and you're back to feeling lonely?
I opened this post with the analogy of a movie because I wanted you to see that all of our lives are made up of stories. These stories are what make us who we are. Just like movie genres, there are different categories of stories that we can experience. There’s drama, comedy, romance, action, thrillers (hopefully no horror… Lord knows we don’t need any of that!). There are all these stories that we can experience, and the thing is that a lot of times, we’ll experience the same story, or at least the same plotline, multiple times throughout our lives.
God’s Triumph over the Enemy’s Plan
Here’s the thing we need to know about the enemy; first of all, we have to know that he’s real, and second of all, we have to know that he’s not creative. He’s crafty but not creative. It’s improbable that the enemy will choose to hit you in different areas of your life when he knows that there’s one that’s the weakest.
Think of a warzone for a second with me. If an army knew that there was one section of a wall that was the weakest, why would they waste their energy and effort attacking somewhere else when they know that section is the easiest way to get in? It’s the same with the enemy. Unfortunately, he knows our weaknesses and tends to attack in the same area multiple times because it’s what’s easiest.
But aren’t you thankful for a God who is creative - in fact, THE Creator - and doesn’t take the easy way out? Aren’t you grateful for a God who is all-powerful and can handle ANY situation and turn it around? Just trying to end on a high note here.
To support this theory about the devil attacking us in the same area multiple times, let’s go back to the story about feeding the five thousand, and let’s fast forward two chapters to where we see a very similar story to what we experienced in Mark 6.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
In Mark 8:1-10, we have a Deja Vu moment. Jesus and His disciples are again with a large crowd, and there’s no food to eat. Let’s read what happens:
During those days, another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way because some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were leftover. About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
Okay - if you’re anything like me, you’re probably thinking, “Didn’t we just read this story? Is this a repeat? Did the writers of the Bible get the count wrong in the first story - was it four thousand people instead of five thousand people?” And if you’re thinking all of these things, it’s okay. I, too, thought that way. I mean, how can you not? It’s LITERALLY the same story, just with a few minor adjustments. The first time Jesus fed 5,000 people. This time He fed 4,000 people. The first time there were five loaves and two fish. This time there were seven loaves and “a few” small fish.
Even so, these are two separate events. Both times, the storyline was the same. Everything was going great. Then, it wasn’t. They needed food desperately. And all they had was a handful of loaves of bread and fish - pretty hopeless, right? But then Jesus stepped on the scene and fed everyone with food to spare! The resolution happened, and it happened through a miracle! Incredible!
The Real Question
But here’s what I want to present to you, and if you’ve made it this far, please keep reading. You made it to the meat of the post. Here’s my main question:
Why did this story happen twice?
From what we said earlier, we know that the enemy is not crafty. However, as believers in Jesus, are we subject to the enemy’s plan? Do our lives have to look like what the enemy wants for us? Do our lives have to fall apart every six months? Do we have to fight with our spouse every week? Do we have to screw up every good job we get? Does everyone in our lives that we love have to leave us at some point?
If we blame the recurrence of these events solely on the enemy, then we’ve forfeited our right to victory. In other words, it’s a cheap and cowardly way out of the circumstance to say, “I guess the devil just keeps hitting me hard in this situation.” Sorry, that was frank… but true.
If, every time something terrible happens in our lives, we simply accept it and think, “Well, this is just the way things are. This is just how my life is supposed to be,” then we miss the POWER that God has given us to overcome the enemy! The devil’s crafty. And he’s persistent. I’ll give him that. But he’s not God.
So, I present the question again: Why did this story happen twice? Why were there identical scenarios? Why were the responses and reactions the same from the disciples when they realized there was not enough food? Why was there panic and confusion?
It’s because the disciples didn’t understand the power of remembering.
And I’ll prove it to you.
The Power of Remembering
Just after they witness Jesus feed crowds of people that, together, could probably form a thriving city, the disciples miss it again. Again!
They leave the scene of this miracle, and immediately, there are more issues. Over food. Which I think is hilarious but also powerful at the same time. They get into a boat, literally moments after picking up leftover food from feeding four thousand people, and they realize that they don’t have any bread for themselves. There’s no bread on the boat, and they begin to argue and worry about what they will eat on their trip.
Then, Jesus comes into the scene. Let’s keep reading in Mark 8:17-21:
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
Jesus sits His disciples down and reminds them of what He had done in the past. He doesn’t just provide them bread or make food magically appear. Jesus takes this opportunity as a teaching moment because, from His words, they didn’t understand.
It is my mission today that, through this post, you begin to understand. “Understand what?” you may ask. Understand that Jesus is real. Understand that God is able to do all things. Understand that if He does it once, He can do it again. Understand the power of remembering.
I said all of this to get you here. Every person has a story, and every person will have multiple stories. But just like the apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, we, too, have something in our lives that keeps us human. In other words, there’s a section of our wall that’s weak - and the enemy knows it, and that’s where he’s going to attack. But this weak spot in our wall reminds us that we can’t do everything on our own, and God, in His goodness, reminds us in 2 Corinthians 12 that His “grace is sufficient for [us], for [His] power is made perfect in weakness” (v.9). Therefore, there’s nothing to fear when we’re weak, for when we feel the weakest, we are actually the strongest.
However, we do have to understand that there will be some repeats in our stories. There will be times when the same area - our health, security, identity, relationships, reputation, purpose, gifting, etc. - is attacked multiple times. Even so, we don’t have to respond to the same story in defeat. There is a way to respond to it in victory!
Three Steps to Remembering
When the story seems to be repeating, when the attacks seem to keep coming, that’s when the power of remembering comes into play. Here are three ways you can use the power of remembering to overcome the circumstances you face:
1. Keep a Journal & Read it Regularly.
I have been journaling religiously for years - and the best part about it is being able to go back and read about what all God has done. Starting a journal is super simple! Get a notebook (or make your own with some paper and staples), grab a pen, and write down your thoughts daily. Some days there will be more. Some days there will be less. What matters most is that you are being honest and authentic in your writing. When you’re honest and authentic in your writing, you’ll be able to go back and remember explicitly how you felt in the moment and what God did in that situation.
2. Ask God to Remind You.
This may seem like a simple tip, but I’m surprised at how often I simply forget to ask God to help me remember! Asking God to remind us of what He’s done in the past is a simple prayer that we can pray often. If you’re forgetful like me, try setting a reminder or alarm on your phone every day that says, “Ask God to help you remember.” This is also an excellent topic for accountability partners (friends that help each other on their walks with Christ) to discuss regularly. Consider asking these questions:
When was the last time you asked God to help you remember?
When was the last time you journaled?
When was the last time you read your journal?
When was the last time you made time to remember?
3. Remember God’s Character.
THIS. IS. THE. MAIN. ONE. Honestly, if you put this into practice and did nothing else, you’d be well on your way to understanding the way God works. Why? Because God will never do anything outside of His character. When you realize you serve a God who is good (Psalm 119:68), a Protector (Psalm 18:2), a Father (2 Corinthians 6:18), and not a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11), you realize:
God is good; therefore, He will take care of me.
God is Protector; therefore, He will shield me.
God is my Father; therefore, He will love me.
God is not a respecter of persons; therefore, He will do it for me if He does it for someone else.
You see, the disciples saw Jesus feed thousands of people, but when it came to feeding the twelve of them, they lost hope. Why? We said it was because they didn’t remember, and that’s true - but could it also be because they wondered if God would be willing to do it for them, too? Remembering God’s character is key to the power of remembering. Don’t know a lot about His character? No worries - start with your Bible. It’s the story of God’s character and His most remarkable characteristic - His love.
In Conclusion
By remembering, we will be able to conquer any attack the enemy throws our way. If God did it before, He will do it again. If God did it for them, He will do it for me. If God says the answer is yes, then the answer is yes. If God says the answer is no, then the answer is no.
Trust God’s power, His timing, and His authority, and don’t fall victim to the attacks of the enemy. Stand firm through the power of remembering what God has done in the past, and look forward with the expectation of what God will do in the future.
FOR PERSONAL STUDY
Read the following scriptures:
Mark 6
Mark 8
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Psalm 119:68
Psalm 18:2
2 Corinthians 6:18
Romans 2:11
FOR PERSONAL GROWTH
Answer the following questions:
Is there an issue, weakness, or situation in my life that keeps coming back?
How has God helped me in this area in the past?
Do I believe that God will help me in this area again?
What does the Bible say about God’s character?
What one thing can I do this week to remember what God has done for me?
