Morning Devotional

July 11, 2004

"Bread of Life (Part 1)"

by Don Emmitte

Home

Then they left Elim and journeyed into the Sin Desert, between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there a month after leaving Egypt. There, too, the whole community of Israel spoke bitterly against Moses and Aaron. “Oh, that we were back in Egypt," they moaned. "It would have been better if the LORD had killed us there! At least there we had plenty to eat. But now you have brought us into this desert to starve us to death." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Look, I'm going to rain down food from heaven for you. The people can go out each day and pick up as much food as they need for that day. (Exodus 16:4 NLT)

In the next few days I am going to be looking at the provision of God. We’ve been looking at the reasons why bad things happen to good people for the past few days. Now we can expand that to understand the compassionate provision of God in the midst of our lives.

To begin this little series, we see the Israelites in their journey out of Egypt. They could have easily been called "The Grumblers". Led out of Egypt to escape persecutions and find the Promise Land, God's children never really seemed pleased with their new surroundings. They became hungry and God gave them something to eat.

Every morning, thin flakes, like frost, would cover the ground. This was called "manna", and it was like toasted bread. It was sweet like honey. The people could only gather enough for one day's feeding. If they gathered too much it would spoil. The next morning, except on the Sabbath, they would go out and gather more manna. God did this miracle to demonstrate for His people that He could supply all their needs.

Perhaps you are at a place where you need such provision. God is able. What are you praying for right now? Do you believe that He can provide it? Do you think the Israelites were originally surprised that God could cover the ground with "frosted flakes" every morning? Of course they were. We don't have a problem believing it now, because it is history, but try believing it before it happens.

Let me ask you to simply trust God to provide. Now, He may provide in His way. And, that may a very surprising event. The Israelites may have wanted bagels and they got Frosted Flakes, but God did satisfy their need. Ask God to meet your needs, trust Him to do it, and then wait for His answer! God is still in the manna business today. After all, He is the BREAD OF LIFE!