1/31 Mark 8:2
2 "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat."
Jesus had been in Gentile areas, perhaps to avoid the large Jewish crowds. While He was near Tyre, we only read of one woman's daughter being healed. Jesus needed time to teach His disciples, as He was in the last year of His ministry. He returned to Galilee via the Decapolis region. The area was mostly inhabited by Greeks. Apparently, the man from whom the legion of demons had been cast out had done a good job sharing what Jesus had done for him (Mark 5:19). The crowd that gathered around Jesus numbered four thousand.
Jesus had performed healings and taught for three days. He told the disciples that many of those people had come from far away, and He was concerned that they needed the strength from food to be able to return to their homes. Jesus shows us the compassionate heart of God, who is concerned even for our daily sustenance. His disciples said there was not enough food there to feed all these people. They didn't learn the lesson from when Jesus had fed a much larger crowd. Their solution was the same as before.
If we don't learn a lesson the first time we are taught, God is faithful to repeat the lesson. Seven loaves of bread and a few small fish were more than enough. What God has provided is always enough for what He calls us to do. Don't think you lack the skills or finances to obey God's calling. If He hasn't already provided, He will, and if you don't see it coming in, He'll multiply what you have.
Remember: If God is repeating a lesson in your life, it is either because you didn't learn it the first time or because you need that lesson reinforced.
