10. Manna

The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan.

Exodus 16:35

It’s been thirty-three days. Only thirty-three days since I pulled my kids out of school and we started socially distancing ourselves. I’ve been to the grocery store once and the pharmacy another time about three weeks later but other than that I’ve been home with the kids. I miss church and my friends and dropping my kids off at school. And while I will admit that this has not been as hard on us as it has been on other people that we love very, very much, it’s starting to get to me.

It makes me wonder what the average mother was feeling while she was wandering in the desert with Moses for those forty years. What did she think when the food started running low and there wasn’t any fresh water? How did she keep her kids entertained? Did she feel like she needed a little social distancing herself?

The thing is, God has put his people under a whole lot more pressure than Covid-19. And it’s easy for us to just kind of glaze past it: yep, they sure did spend forty years in the desert all right. And of course he provided literal bread from heaven so they wouldn’t starve, for sure. Oh yeah and then eight hundred years later they were exiled to Babylon for another seventy years, don’t you know? But these were hardships that real people really faced. And you know what they did?? THEY GOT IMPATIENT AND WORSHIPPED OTHER GODS!

I’m sorry to yell, but friends, we need to guard our hearts. While this feels like forever it’s only been thirty-three days! We are already complaining like we have been in the wilderness for a good twenty-five years with no end in sight. And when we start to feel dissatisfied our foolish hearts will start hunting for the thing that will satisfy it. Unfortunately for us, we usually get that wrong. We usually think that external things – like shopping, alcohol, food (oh hey, it me!), sex, television, social media attention – will satisfy our weary souls. But there is only one thing that can do that, and I bet you already know his name.

God is not going to leave you wanting more. He is going to give you exactly as much as your soul needs just like he gave the Israelites just enough manna to live. No more, no less. He is sure and true, he doesn’t change his character or tell us one minute that he loves us and then ghosts us for a few years (although not feeling his presence is a real thing, but better left for another day).

So if you’re feeling like you need to find the thing that will get you to the finish line: my friend, you’ve already found Him. He’s been here, waiting for and walking with you, the whole time. And he is the only one who can get you there, by providing you with all that you need.

What does your manna look like today?