Use what you have
Day 295, Monday, June 2
Mark 7:24 – 8:26
Sandwiched between the healing of a deaf man and the healing of a blind man is one of the times that Jesus reprimands his disciples for not seeing what is in front of them, asking, “Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?”
This passage comes soon after the feeding of the four thousand with just seven loaves of bread and a few small fish.
He has now warned them to “Be careful. Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
While his warning has to do with the teachings and the example of bad leaders, they connect it to literal bread and think he has said this because they neglected to bring enough bread for the journey.
“Why are you talking about having no bread?” Jesus asks. “Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?”
He then asks them the pivotal question about having eyes but not seeing and ears but not hearing.
When people who suffered from actual blindness and deafness approached Jesus, he reacted with compassion and healed them. His frustration, though, came when those who were perfectly capable of seeing and hearing failed to do so.
We can be certain God feels the same frustration with us at time (maybe a lot of times).
How often have we seen God’s love and faithfulness proven, only to doubt it again?
How often have we heard God’s reassurance that he is with us only to feel we are alone in hard times?

Monday meditation

Proverbs 29:12-14
If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked.
The poor and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.
If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever.

Prayer focus
Forgive us, Lord, when we fail to hear or see what you have put clearly before us. Give us eyes that see you and ears that hear you.

-Rev. Mark Fleming