REFLECTIONS

Manna

The freedom they sought was finally theirs, freedom from excessive workdays, freedom from unreasonable production demands, freedom from whiplashes when quotas went unmet. Surely Moses would lead them to better life. But no one expected the hardships they would face.

They hadn’t expected the desert heat to suck out their breath, dry their tongues and parch their lips, or wind to sting their bodies more severely than whipping across their backs after a long day’s work. Barren soil produced no food, and oases, when they found them, were far apart. A return to enslavement seemed better to the Israelites than the continued pursuit of freedom.

Quickly forgotten were the spared lives of their firstborn while others around them died. Far from their memory was the escape through the parted sea waters that spared them from a hostile army. Distant from their minds was God’s promise to lead them to a land of milk and honey. And blind to their eyes was the provision that sustained them each and every day. They called it manna because they did not know what it was. But each morning they found its provision for a single day and a promise for tomorrow.

Now, here we are today, each of us in search of a world of milk and honey, and freedom from the hardships of our troublesome past. Yet we seldom recognize God’s guidance as divine as the Passover was for the Israelites. We rarely acknowledge good fortune as God’s protective hand like the parting of the Red Sea. Instead, each day we make provisions for tomorrow as if our own resources will be sufficient. Each day finds us in pursuit of a life better than yesterday as if we can make it on our own, only to find our pursuits are accompanied by troubles we never imagined. But God does not promise a trouble-free world.

Just as God parted the Red Sea to provide the Israelites protection from the pursuing hostile army, and manna enough to meet their daily needs, He promises to provide what we need to persevere during our trying times, manna to sustain us, shields to protect us, and his enduring promise to be with us always.

Isn’t that all we need for today.

“You are the light of the world,”

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org.

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