Manna

A few days ago I was reading the account of the Israelites wandering in the dessert and grumbling about not having meat to eat. Something in the passage early on gripped me so deeply, that I could not read on any further.

"When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down." Numbers 11:9

I know. It seems really unimportant, doesn't it? It didn't to me that morning, not from the place I was in and not from the place where many of you sit who need to be reminded that where God leads us, He will also feed us.

I was suddenly taken back by the fact that the Lord provided nourishment for these murmuring people, supernaturally every night. While to the Israelites, their exodus may have seemed like a bit of a hassle, Yahweh took care of them in the desert because they were His and He was taking them on a journey to the land of their promise.

Consider this. Dew falls at night and only on cloudless, clear nights. That makes since given that the Lord gave His people a pillar of fire to follow by night and a cloud to follow by day. How else would Moses have known which cloud to follow if the sky was cloudy? Would he have picked the cloud that most resembled a bunny, or a lion or a butterfly? I would've had spotters looking for the most distinctive looking cloud. Tiaras, shoes, chocolate, puppies... No telling where we would've ended up!

Our amazing Father ordained the conditions to be just right so that His people would have a clear sign to follow both day and night and food to eat without fail. He did not bring them to the desert to strand them there. He had a purpose and a destination in mind. The exodus was a gift, although on many occasions they failed to see it as such.

We do that sometimes. I recently had an experience at work where I had something I enjoyed very much, taken away from me. The purpose was so that I could perform my other tasks better and with greater efficiency but I did not see it like that right away. In my heart, I fought against the transition for a while and I struggled greatly with what I thought that incident really meant. I was wrong.

When I finally yielded, gave up on being upset over the matter and confessed my brokenness, I was able to move on. I later received a blessing I am not sure would have come had I held onto the attitudes which had stolen my joy and held captive my spirit.

What I needed to get through that difficult patch was with me all along. It had settled as dew upon my heart, yet I let it spoil and subsequently grumbled about my plight. But we serve a graciously loving God who's mercies are new every morning. Just just like the dew, the opportunity was there once again to grab hold of that mercy and to trust God completely with my situation.

Can you relate? Are you in that place? Do you find yourself kicking against a brick wall or in a situation where you're just crying out to God saying, "You've got the wrong person! I can't do this."

Then that's a good place to be because you are partially right. You can't do it alone but if He called you, you can do it with Him. If He lead you there, be it adversity or adventure, He will feed you in the midst of it.

What is it you need to fulfill the assignment before you? It's yours already. The ground is saturated with the dew of heaven - your manna for today. Ask Father to help you gather all that you need.


"All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me."

http://www.tanbible.com/tol_sng/greatisthyfaithfulness.htm