My mother
taught Sunday school for decades. One week she wanted to explain how God
supplied food for the Israelites in the wilderness. To make the story come
alive, she created something to represent “manna” for the kids in her class.
She cut bread into small pieces and topped them with honey. Her recipe was
inspired by the Bible’s description of manna that says it “tasted like wafers
made with honey” (Ex. 16:31).
When the
Israelites first encountered God’s bread from heaven, it appeared on the ground
outside their tents like frost. “When [they] saw it, they said to each other,
‘What is it?’ ” (v. 15). The Hebrew word man means “what,” so
they called it manna. They discovered they could grind it and form
it into loaves or cook it in a pot (Num. 11:7-8). Whatever it was, it had a
baffling arrival (Ex. 16:4,14), a unique consistency (v. 14), and a short
expiration date (vv. 19-20).
This reminds us that He is not bound by our
expectations, and we can’t predict what He will choose to do. While we wait,
focusing on who He is rather than what we think He should do will help us find
joy and satisfaction in our relationship with Him.
Those who let God provide will always be satisfied. (ODB)