#35 - Manna

Date Sent: Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 11:20 PM

So, you know the story. Moses led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. God miraculously parted the Red Sea so they could escape the Egyptian armies that fickle Pharaoh sent after them. Then after the Hebrew masses passed through on dry ground, the waters "un-parted" and destroyed their enemies (aka the enemies of God). The wavering Hebrews kept complaining about everything, but their patient and loving God still kept meeting ALL their needs. But rather than focusing on God's continual miraculous provision, they still found more and more things to complain about. God took care of EVERYTHING - their clothes and shoes didn't wear out even after wearing them for decades while wandering around the dessert. God even provided water, and supernatural food for them to eat - MANNA.

Do you remember manna? It showed up each and every morning (except the Sabbath) on the ground for them to just pick up and eat. But ... if the people didn't trust in God's continued provision, and stored it for the next day, it turned rancid. This daily provision of their every need continued without fail for decades! (Note: once they reached the Promised Land the manna stopped and they had to start tilling the dirt and raising their own crops. The Promised Land, though "perfect" still required work from its inhabitants!) Even though they had a daily reminder that God hadn't forgotten them, they still complained: they got bored with His provision and begged Him for something else.

So now that you remember the back story, do you remember what Jesus said to Satan when he was tempted in the dessert - "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' " (Matthew 4:4, and again in Luke 4:4). So, where in the Old Testament (aka The Torah), was that written? Deuteronomy 8:3: "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD." Note here that God didn't feed them merely to satisfy their physical need: He fed them to teach them a greater spiritual truth.

I was sitting in Bible Study the other week, and Deuteronomy 8:3 was nonchalantly read, then the teacher moved on with that night's topic. But I was stuck reading and rereading that verse. As I did, how I read it changed each time. "God humbled ME... and ALLOWED ME not to be able to breathe ... and breathed for me in a way that I did not know ... He met my needs in a way I had never experienced, nor did my parents who are (were) strong Christians experience that SAME KIND of interdependence on God ... that He might make me understand that I'm not alive because I can breathe, but that it's His breath that gives me life."

It started with God humbling me - with Him taking me to a place where I couldn't keep going on my own strength. In my situation it was that I couldn't breathe anymore (and machines had to do it for me). It doesn't say that God caused the situation, and it doesn't say that Satan caused my problems (as was the case for Job), and it doesn't say that it was my own poor decisions that caused it. What caused my problem isn't what matters here. But it says He "LET YOU BE hungry" - He allowed it. That also implies that He knew about it: I wasn't alone going through the experience.

But it doesn't end there. God didn't let me (or the Hebrews) stay in that needy situation. He fed them - He gave me breath, and He did it in a new way. God is too big to be put in a box, it's presumptuous for us to expect Him to work in our lives the same way he worked in someone else's (a friend or someone in the Bible). The Hebrews were given manna to satisfy their hunger. I was intubated (which is very unpleasant, but itself isn't "miraculous"), but my "suffocating/stagnated" walk with Him was revived. But the verse goes on. There's a purpose for all of this. They were taught that "man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." I got to experience the breath of heaven - His living breath - my spirit was revived.

But I said that each time I re-read the passage the words changed (though not the meaning or significance). The Hebrews were hungry and were fed. I couldn't breathe, and experienced God's breath of life in a new way. But what is God wanting to teach you? Why is He humbling you (or has recently, or will in the near future)? Is He letting you know fear so you can experience His peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7)? Is He letting you feel oppressed (spiritual, physical, or relational) so that you can experience the freedom that only He can give? Is He allowing you to doubt so that you can grow in your faith that "God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19)?

What caused your troubles (God, Satan, someone else, or even yourself) isn't necessarily what matters. He knows about your troubles. He wants you to be humbled (in response to His omnipotence/omniscience). He wants to meet your needs. But He won't stop there. He wants you to learn something about HIM as a result. Are you (and I) going to be grateful for the MANNA that God WILL provide for you in whatever you're going through right now, or will you be like the Hebrews and be insatiable and just complain?

~ Julia