Manna

We had a very interesting message at church today. It was about the Israelites, newly escaped from Egypt, just having crossed the red sea. They were hungry, complained, and God gave them "manna", a non descript bread-like substance that just appeared magically each morning.

Here's the interesting part.

For 400 years, these people were slaves in Egypt. They did not have a past that would allow them to trust other people. Understandably then, even after seeing the passover where their children were spared a certain death, and after walking through the red sea on dry land, they were miserable when hungry in the wilderness.

They did not know how to trust God. Manna was God's way of showing them, every day for 40 years, that they could trust Him. Each day, every day they had enough food for that one day. They needed to take little steps in learning who God was and that He could be trusted. And for 40 years, He was just that. The provider of their daily need, no more, no less.

Sometimes God understands that we have trouble trusting Him. Then He goes to work and puts us in a place where we can learn trust. One day at a time, one meal at a time.

Interesting....