
Bible Reading: Exodus 16
It is so easy for us 21st century Christians to judge those 1st-century children of Israel. I mean they woke up every day to manna in the morning and quail in the evening, just waiting for them. They didn’t have to look for it; they didn’t have to work for it; they didn’t have to store up any and figure out how to manage it – well except for the 6th day, they were just required to collect a double portion of what they would normally get. Simple enough, right? They had it made, but why was it so darn hard for them to just follow directions?
…because it was something new, something they weren’t used to. They had come from a place that was so much different from where they were currently. And, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never taken a test that didn’t have some level of challenge to it (Exodus 16:4).
It’s so easy for us to say, “God rain bread down from heaven, for you, you had it made.” That is until we have to trust God DAILY for direction and provision. It seems that it would be so simple until you actually have to do it.
Put yourself in the shoes of the children of Israel for a minute: You left everything you knew to go to a foreign place, a place you know nothing about. Yes, your former place may not have been the best place for you, there may have been abuse there, there may have been bondage there… but you knew that abuse, you knew that bondage, and you learned how to cope with it so it didn’t seem so bad, especially now that you are in this new place, a place that you know absolutely nothing about.
Now you have to learn everything over again. Some things you may have known for years, but now you are being told something different. Does that still seem so easy?
What do you do when God is taking you out of that familiar place you once knew, to explore all new territory? What do you do when after you have surrendered to the new thing and done everything He has instructed you to do, the outcome is not what you expected? Will you, like the children of Israel, want to go back to Egypt, the place of familiarity?
You may want to, but I guarantee you, deliverance is better than what’s familiar. So what do you do while you are navigating this new place? You pray like Jesus instructs in Matthew 6:11, “Lord give me this day, my daily bread…” You believe that God didn’t deliver you in 2015, for you to go back in 2016. You wake up daily and say, “What are we doing today God?” You ask Him for His strength and courage for today while knowing that tomorrow will worry about itself (Matthew 6:34).
Prayer: Father God, thank you. Thank You for providing for me even when I don’t know that’s what You are doing. Thank You for doing exceedingly, abundantly above, all I could ever ask or think, even when I don’t understand. Forgive me for wanting to go back to what was familiar and not appreciating where You are elevating me to. Open my eyes, so that I see spiritually in the midst of natural frustration. Thank You for continually being good to me. It is in Your Son, Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.