Daily Manna vs. Storehouses

Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough food for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions."  Exodus 16:4

     The Lord said this to Moses in response to the Israelites complaint that here they were starving in the desert but had all they wanted while slaves in Egypt.  Wow, I read this and think how much are we like the Israelites focused on our "suffering" rather than counting the blessing of being free from bondage to the world.  This was the Lord that had just freed them from Pharaoh and parted the Red Sea so they could cross to safety.  Yet, like a child, they are complaining because its hard and not what they had expected.  So many times when we turn to a life of "following God" and times when it gets hard, we hear that voice saying "It was better when______".  You can fill in the blank with whatever you want.  We all have the thing in our life we were a slave to whether money, a relationship, success, drugs/alcohol.  It doesn't matter what it is, what matters is how easily our response is to complain and focus on the problem.  We have to learn to be a community that focuses on the ONE who is in the problem solving/freedom giving business.

     Now, the second part of that verse I honestly almost left off, as it is the part we don't want to read..."in this way I will test them to see if they follow my instructions".  I personally don't like tests very much nor do i feel they are needed.  However, think about when you were in math class and took a chapter test.  You took chapter one test so the teacher knew if you were ready for chapter two and so forth. He was testing their faith to see if they were ready for the next step in life.  If they would have enough faith to take only the manna they needed for that day, it meant they had the faith to endure the journey to the promise land. They were learning daily dependence on God to meet their needs. It is just like a child learning to jump into a pool.  The first time they sit and kind of slide off into your hands. Then they stand up and want caught before they go under, eventually understanding the parent isn't going to let them drown.  God just wanted to test the Israelites faith, teaching them to have a relationship with Him in which He would provide all their needs. If God calls you to it He will get you through it!

     

      "Give us this day our daily bread".  Matthew 6:11

This same concept is one Jesus taught while instructing how we should pray.  It is a faith that leads us to a daily dependence on God. It is not because He wants to control.  It is because as in Jeremiah 29:11

     "For I know the plans I have you,"declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

     If we aren't living a faith that every day is submissive to God and yielding to His plan, then it is too easy for us to drown or fall.  As a parent you don't leave a child alone to jump into the deep end...you teach them to depend on you so to keep them safe.  You give them instructions and tests to make sure they are ready for the next steps.  God like any parent or teacher only wants to prepare us for the best life we can possibly have. It just takes surrender and the ability to let Him bless you anew every morning.  If the Israelites took too much manna it would go bad.  Does that mean God was trying to take something for them?  No, not at all. He just wants us to live by faith not by what we can control.  If they had storehouses of manna then they had no reason for God.  They didn't need a dependence on Him and they wouldn't be led by Him. God promises us an abundant life where everyday He will bless us in ways that are beyond our comprehension. However, we must follow his path.  He didn't want the Israelites to stay in the desert forever, He wanted them to keep moving forward and not get to comfortable.  For when we  become comfortable we usually camp out at that spot in life.  

     What promise land are we missing out on because we are stuck enslaved to our storehouses?  He promises you daily manna as you follow His steps.  In times when it seems like we are being tested or life was easier, remember how He taught us to pray and pray, knowing He promises manna every morning.