Wilderness Manna

Exodus 16:1-3~...the children of Israel journeyed...came to the Wilderness of Sin...after they departed from the land of Egypt. "Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness....They said, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.""

We all like to think that we would do better than the Israelites. But we know something they didn't know. We know that God was going to rain down manna from heaven in the morning and give them quail to eat in the evening. But, everywhere they looked in the wilderness, they could see no hope of any kind of provision.

They wished they were back in Egypt, enslaved and full of meat. At least they would have died from slavery and not from starvation, or so they thought.

I wonder if we do this. Are we looking at the wilderness of the economy and wondering where "our next meal" is coming from? The Israelites had plenty of gold and silver. There was no food to buy. There was no way out of this.

Perhaps we are in the wilderness and there is no way out.
Will we complain about the government?
Will we wish for the good old days?

Or, will we look up.
Will we see the bread raining down from Heaven?
Will we see the hand of God feeding us from His provision?

In the wilderness,
it is possible to eat our fill AND and have our freedom.

In the wilderness,
it is possible to trust Him one day at a time,
and gather our daily bread.
Daily bread...one-day-at-a-time bread.

As soon as the Israelites complained, God told Moses that He would rain bread down from Heaven, and test them to see whether they would walk in obedience. He would test them with the simple instructions regarding collecting just the right amount of bread per day and twice as much on the day before the Sabbath.
He heard their complaints, and answered their need, and tested their hearts.

We can do it that way too. We can complain and because we are His children, He will take care of us.

Or, we can look in His face and say,"I trust You. You are my manna from Heaven. You are my source of every good thing. You will take care of me. "
And we can live one day at a time, in His provision.
We can be at peace in the wilderness.
Even there, His table is spread before us, and we need fear no evil.

The stories of the Children of Israel were recorded so we could learn from them. What do you think the Children of Israel are saying to us now as they stand with the great cloud of witnesses who are cheering us on?

I think I can hear them...can you?

"Trust and obey...
Look up to heaven...
Open wide your mouth...
He will fill it with good things...
Don't be afraid...
You'll be home before long...
You're going to make it...
Trust and obey..."