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).
Sometimes God provides for us in surprising ways, but He always meets our needs. 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. (RBC)
