The Challenge and The Comfort of Manna...

September 16, 2011

John 6:49

V 49 your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died

Thinking about God’s provision of the manna in the wilderness for the Children of Israel both challenges me and comforts me. He provided for them food when they would have died of starvation. He gave them food that fell from the sky; directly by His hand. This is what comforts me; God provided for them their food. There is something so personal about a Father feeding His children. God did this both physically and spiritually. He will do the same for me; I won’t get manna from Heaven, true, but He has promised that His will is for my good. The children of Israel reactions to this mana, this heavenly food, are what challenge me. To put it plainly, they spent a good amount of time grumbling and complaining about the manna. They were tired of it; they wanted something more. Now, it’s easy for us in the microwave generation to sit in our air-conditioned homes and judge these people harshly. But I doubt that we are much different. How many times have we complained to God about His provisions for us? How many times have we wished for a bigger…? (You fill in the blank); in so doing we are complaining about what God has provided for us. So, maybe we aren’t that much different from the Children of Israel after all. This is what challenges me. I want to always live in a state of thankfulness to God for His provision, not to wish I had more.