Exodus 16: 4-5 - Then
the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for
you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I
may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And
it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it
shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
The small amount of food they had taken with them in their
flight from Egypt was used up. Hunger
pains once again brought despair and a feeling that God had deserted them. They cried out to Moses …even wishing out
loud that they were dead…that they had never left Egypt where at least they had
meat and bread each day to eat. So Moses did what Moses always did…he prayed
and asked God what to do.
God answered the prayer quickly with a plan to feed the
children of Israel for the next 40 years.
A substance they named manna rained from the sky each morning. As the dew evaporated from the ground…the
dried manna could be collected and ground into bread that tasted sweet. Each
evening God caused flocks of quail to come their camp. They could easily catch all the meat they
needed for their families.
There was one condition…the food God provided was only good
for one day…except on the Sabbath. What
they collected on the 6th day and prepared supernaturally stayed
fresh for two days. Any other time it spoiled…so that it smelled awful and grew
worms. God needed to build their faith. He
needed them to trust him for everything they needed…..on a daily basis. Of
course many of them failed the test at first…they got to experience the rotten
stink and see the gross worms the next morning from the manna and quail they
tried to keep more than one day. But
over time they learned if they were to survive…they must follow God’s
directions…exactly…no exceptions.
It is a great reminder to me to do the same. God left us
with a wonderful book of instructions.
It should be the manna that sustains us every day. One day of Bible
reading will only take our faith so far.
We need a daily dose of his word to allow him to build our faith into a strong
tower of strength and courage that will help us through anything that satan can
dream up to weaken us.
It also reminds me that I need to build my own trust in God’s
plan for me. I admit that when life gets
tough it is tougher to completely trust that God knows what he is doing. I would have been right in the middle of
those Israelites complaining that I was hungry and did not understand why God
had me wandering in a wilderness with no food left. I have to remember this
story…and the words of David in Psalm 28:7.
It says… “The LORD is my strength
and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.”
Father…thank you for the reminder that you are my strength
and my shield and my deliverer…and my salvation. Forgive me for the times that I let my flesh
keep me from trusting you completely. Help
me to take one day at a time and learn to feed daily on your word. Show me how to build my faith so that satan cannot
find a way to weaken what you have built within my heart. Amen.
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