One of the simple truths in this life is that when we're busy looking at ourselves, we become blind to everyone else, including God. How unfortunate, because usually we are very boring while God is doing great things.
In Mark 6, Jesus does an amazing thing. He walks on water. He defies the laws of nature, which He created, and finds stability where everyone else sinks. As He is cruising past His friends in a boat, they see him and shriek in terror, believing it is a ghost. Jesus calms them with His voice and He climbs into the boat with them. As He does, a ferocious storm that had been raging around them suddenly calms to nothing.
Now here's the real kicker- this is what it says about the disciples reaction, "They were totally amazed for they still didn't understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in." So, Jesus was bringing down the power of heaven all around, and the disciples reaction was basically, "Huh?"
Which got me thinking- remember last week how I said the disciples were tired and worn out when Jesus performed the miraculous feeding of the 5,000? He took a few fish and a few rolls and fed everyone with 12 baskets of leftover food on the ground. If you put the disciples tired condition together with their hard hearts, it leads me to believe that when they were picking up the left-over bread, they were grumbling. They were complaining about the extra work they had to do. Jesus had just done something absolutely amazing, and it is entirely possible that all the disciples could see was the inconvenience it caused them.
So, grumbling can cause blindness. We can get so focused on our needs and what we don't have on a personal level that we miss incredible displays of God's power all around us.
I don't want that. My guess is, neither do you. So pray for a soft heart. And open eyes. Pray hard that when heaven opens and God's power falls, you won't miss it because you're focused only on yourself. Ah, a hard prayer, but a good one.
May you have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that understand what God is doing around you!
Peace-
Nick
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