365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 259: Manna

Manna

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it." (Revelation 2:17 NLT)

"In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, 'If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.' 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 for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.' The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey." (Exodus 16:2-4,31 NIV)

I have two recurring thoughts every time I read the story of the newly freed children of God, just starting out on their journey to the Promised Land, complaining about being hungry and "at least back in Egypt we had meat" and all that.

1) "What a bunch of ungrateful whiners."

2) "I am an ungrateful whiner."

There they were, fresh off their release from captivity and the whole "parting of the Red Sea" miracle and the sparing of their lives from their Egyptian pursuers, and what do they do but start moaning about being hungry? And yet I know I would have done the same thing. I DO do the same thing.

But mercifully for them and for me, God's provision is not provisional upon my appreciation. He wants His kids to be grateful because He knows that's what's best for us, but He gives because He is a giver.

God did have one provision about His provision, however: He told the people not to try to collect any more of the bread-like substance He rained down from heaven than they could use for one day. Of course, they didn't do much better with this than Adam and Eve did with God's "you can eat from any tree in the garden except that one" instruction.

The Israelites tried to store up manna, but it spoiled—not because God wasn't capable of preserving it but because He wanted to teach them to trust Him to preserve THEM.

I know I would have grumbled just like the Israelites grumbled, and I would have tried to store up manna in advance, too. But God is also teaching me to trust Him day by day, and throughout His Word, He demonstrates the dailyness of His supply.

His mercies are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23).

Our strength is "renewed" when we "hope in the Lord" (Isaiah 40:31).

Abba gives us "our daily bread" (Luke 11:3).

He sends rain "in its season" (Leviticus 26:4).

He fills the hungry "with good things" (Luke 20:10).

Again, I'm reminded of this truth: "faith" in what has already happened is not faith but thankfulness. Our job is to be thankful for what God has already provided, mindful of what He is presently providing, and hopeful about what He will provide, all the while keeping spiritual eyes on our hidden manna and on our "inheritance kept in heaven" (1 Peter 1:4)...a stored-up inheritance "that can never perish, spoil, or fade."