Manna from Heaven

Most people have a general idea about the story in the Bible about Moses & the Israelites wandering around in the dessert for 40 years trying to find the promised land. At our church right now we are going through a series in the Old Testament, and right now, that is the story we are on. And I got to thinking about it. How many times have I heard this story interpreted as, "Those dumb Israelites... God kept providing manna for them, why did they continue to question him..." Or something similar to that comment. For the first time when reading this story, it makes sense to me why the Israelites continued to question God's provision for them

Let's think about this realistically... 40 years is a long time. Have any of us ever had to endure something that lasted 40 years? I haven't even been on this planet for 40 years, let alone endure walking in the hot, sticky wilderness with no shade and "just enough manna". (Which we learned this past Sunday that the trip should have only taken 2 weeks!) Ok, so now instead of the typical "what is your wilderness" application... my application is "what is your manna?" Let me explain.

God provided just enough manna for the Israelites, but they continued to doubt. From our perspective of reading the story it is easy to say, "Stupid Israelites." However, what does God continually provide for us, yet we continue to doubt? My first thought is money. How many of us wish we had more money? I know for Jason & me, God continues to provide just enough each month, with a little extra, thankfully! However, sometimes it is easy to say, "But God, that isn't enough." Or, "But God... we really want a house (which are ridiculously priced at the moment, which would be a stupid purchase anyway!)

I really believe that there is more application to this story than simply "What is your wilderness!" (Which I don't think that is a bad application!) But to really enter into the story, and realize that we too receive manna from heaven on a daily basis, yet continue to doubt. I wonder if anyone were to read the book of my life story how many would say, "Stupid Leigh Anne... why couldn't you trust God's provision!"