What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What do I know with Isaac Carroll
The Disciples' Doubt, Our Reassurance: Lessons from Matthew 15
Have you ever found yourself doubting God's provision even after He's pulled you through countless difficult situations before? You're in good company.
Today's study of Matthew 15:29-16:4 reveals a fascinating reality: Jesus' own disciples questioned how they could possibly feed a crowd of thousands, despite having witnessed Him perform the exact same miracle previously. Rather than being frustrated by their lack of faith, Jesus simply asked what resources they had available and proceeded to multiply seven loaves and a few fish to feed 4,000 men plus women and children.
This pattern of experiencing God's faithfulness, then forgetting it when new challenges arise, mirrors our own spiritual journeys perfectly. We climb mountains with God's help, praise Him at the summit, then find ourselves doubting again in the next valley. What incredible comfort there is in knowing that Jesus responds to our cycles of faith and doubt not with condemnation, but with compassion and continued provision.
The study concludes with Jesus addressing the Pharisees' demand for heavenly signs, reminding us that mature faith isn't built on constant supernatural validation but on trusting God's promises even when He seems quiet. As one powerful insight reveals: "A teacher is always quietest during a test." When we feel most alone in our trials, that's precisely when we're being invited to exercise deeper trust in God's word.
Join us next time as we continue our journey through Matthew's Gospel, exploring how Jesus continues to challenge and transform our understanding of faith. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who might be walking through their own valley of doubt right now.
May God bless you and lead you always.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Isaac Carroll and this is what Do I Know. Alright, in today's Bible study we're going to be back in Matthew 15, and we'll be picking back up in verse 29. If you're ready.
Speaker 1:Departing from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee and after going up onto the mountain he was sitting there and large crowds came to him, bringing with them those who were limping, had impaired limbs, were blind or were unable to speak, and many others, and they laid them down at his feet and he healed them. So the crowds were astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs restored, those who were limping walking around and those who were blind seen, and they glorified God of Israel. Now Jesus called his disciples to him and he said I feel compassion for these people because they have remained with me now for three days and have nothing to eat and you don't want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way. And the disciples said to him when would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd? And Jesus said to them how many loaves do you have? All right, let's stop here in verse 33. Now for us.
Speaker 1:We just read very a short time ago how Jesus had fed the 5,000. And kind of a head scratcher. Why would? They would even doubt at this point in time how Jesus is going to accomplish anything. But I take great encouragement in it, to be honest with you. And the reason why is I don't know how much time has passed between for them this, this instance where Jesus is feeding, and the last one. It might've been six months, it might've been a year, it might've been two years, who knows, but some time has passed and now they're. They're back in the same exact situation and they're doubting how things can be accomplished.
Speaker 1:Now these men walk with Jesus and we just saw Jesus. They just saw Jesus heal all these people and you would think that when Jesus says, hey, I need you to jump, and all they would say would be how high, you would think. And that's why I take great encouragement in it, because every time we come to a place in our life where there's a valley and we're in a low spot and we're just down and Jesus is there and he gets us through our situations, or maybe we're climbing a hill and it's too much for us and the obstacles are too heavy and somehow Jesus gets us through those things and gets us to the other side. He gets us on the top of the mountain and life is good and we thank God for getting us through those hard times. And then we go down the mountain and life is easy, the road is easy, things are going our way until the next storm comes, and then we find ourselves struggling once again. Maybe we're in the valley again, maybe we're climbing again and we've come to another obstacle in our life where we just don't think we can make it.
Speaker 1:We start beseeching God for his help because we doubt. Why do we doubt? Well, we doubt because it's in our nature to doubt and we try so hard to do things on our own all the time that that's where we struggle. These guys were looking at the mundane, they were looking at the natural things that they had and they were thinking this is all we have, and all that we have is not enough for everyone. But we know that God can do all things and Jesus keeps proving this time after time after time, and they keep doubting, time after time after time, and it's an encouragement to me to know that God and his love and his kindness that he just continues, even though we come to these points that we should know by now. We should be past that point where we completely trust God and yet we still have doubts. I thank God for these things. I thank God for the reminders that we see in His Word, and it gives me comfort.
Speaker 1:Let's pick up in verse 34. And Jesus said to them how many loaves do you have? And they said Seven and a few small fish. And he directed the people to sit down on the ground and he took the seven loaves of the fish and he gave thanks and he broke them and he started giving them to the disciples. And the disciples gave them to the crowds and they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up what was left over, the broken pieces, seven large baskets full, and those who ate were four thousand men besides women and children. And sending away the crowds, jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan. All right, let's continue into chapter 16, starting in verse 1.
Speaker 1:The Pharisees and the Sadducees came up putting Jesus to the test. They asked him to show them a sign from heaven. But he replied to them when it is evening, you say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red and in the morning there will be a storm. Today, for the sky is red and threatening. You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you are unable to discern the signs of the time, and an evil and adulterous generation wants a sign, and so a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah. And he left them and he went away. All right, let's stop here.
Speaker 1:In verse 4. Every time I see a red sky, I remember this verse. A red sky I remember this verse, and it always brings a smile to my face, because anytime I get a reminder from God that he's with me and that his word is true, it always brings a little smile to my face. But it also reminds me of something, and it's a hard lesson, one we all face. How many times in our life have we been in an instance where we needed God to show us that he's with us? I mean, his word says that he will never leave us nor forsake us. Yet we still need a sign from him to prove it. And it's sad, I know it's sad. It's sad that we have to put God to the test that way sometimes. We shouldn't. We should be trusting God. We should be trusting his word. His word said it was true. If his word says it's true, we should believe it and we should apply it.
Speaker 1:So many times and I'm guilty of this I've had times in my life where I was going through a really tough time and I felt alone. I didn't feel the presence of God, and I really needed to feel God's presence and I kept asking to make himself known to me, make me aware of his presence. I needed to feel him, I needed to know that he was with me and I called it seeking God's face. But in truth, what I was doing was doubting his word, because his word tells me I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you. If God made this promise, why would we ever doubt that it was true?
Speaker 1:We always hear this adage that says a teacher is always the quietest during a test, and it's true. When we come to these hard moments in our life, when we come to these times of trial, that's when we feel the most alone, but that's also when we're supposed to trust the most, if we truly believe God's word, and I think that's why God allows these things to come in our life, so we learn to trust Him more and more and not doubt. But thank God, even when we doubt, he shows us compassion and let the self be known to us when we're in desperate need. I think I'm going to end this one here at verse 4. In the next Bible study we'll pick back up in Matthew 16, verse 5. Until then, god bless you guys. Goodbye.