³⁰ The apostles returned to Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. ³¹ Many people were coming and going, so there was no time to eat. He said to the apostles, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.” ³² They departed in a boat by themselves for a deserted place.

³³ Many people saw them leaving and recognized them, so they ran ahead from all the cities and arrived before them. ³⁴ When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

³⁵ Late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it’s already late in the day. ³⁶ Send them away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something to eat for themselves.”

³⁷ He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

   But they said to him, “Should we go off and buy bread worth almost eight months’ pay and give it to them to eat?” (Mark 6:30-37, CEB)

They had just returned from a successful ministry trip. They had laid hands on the sick, cast out demons, proclaimed the gospel, and they excitedly told Jesus everything.

Then… POOF! Their memory is gone.

Jesus turns to them when this huge crowd shows up and says, “Well, go to it, guys!”

And they freak.

We have short attention spans when it comes to incredible blessings of God. We watch God come through in some powerful way and then the very next obstacle we hit we’re panicked all over again.

It happened to Elijah. He takes on the prophets of Baal and wins, then runs for his life when Jezebel threatens him.

Don’t live in the short attention span theater. Get the long view. Recount what God has done for you.

We used to sing out of this thing called a hymnbook in church when I was growing up. (It was a bit of a misnomer since many of the songs were really gospel songs, not hymns, but that’s another issue.) And in this hymnbook was a song called “Count Your Blessings.”

Name them one by one. Count your many blessings and see what God has done.

Take the time. Remember. Recall. Thank God. And get after the next miracle he is asking you to do!