He Will Provide

   In Exodus 16 we see that after the Children of Israel have left Egypt and crossed through the Red Sea, that the shortage of food in the wilderness caused the people to complain because, to them, it seemed like God had led them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness.  It is interesting to note that God does not reprimand the Israelites for their complaining.  Rather God declares what He will do.  There will be food supplied every morning, manna, or “bread from Heaven”.  God describes how they were to gather the manna and how much to gather.  There were special instructions about how much to gather the day before the Sabbath, but also about not gathering too much.  If they hoarded it in apprehension that there might not be sufficient for the next day, or stock piled in case God failed to supply, then the “extra amount” would stink and be filled with worms.  The Israelites were to learn the importance of doing their part and then trusting that God would provide their daily needs. They had to daily trust for God’s provision.
The prayer which Jesus modelled, as found in Matthew 6, tells us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”.  These verses do not mean that we should only get one day’s groceries at a time.  Nor that every day we should be going to the market to buy our food for the day and that buying extra would be disobedience to The Lord. These verses talk about an attitude of heart.  They address our need for provision and that if we are faithful to do our part, then we can rest in God’s faithfulness to do His part.  These verses warn against having an independent nature and encourage us to see how we daily need the provision of God in every area of our lives.  God says that He would use the situations to “test” or “try” the people as to whether they would walk in obedience to Him.
Are you confident in the daily provision of our Lord – in all areas of your life?  Are you complaining that God has not given what you anticipate?  Are you hoarding because you fail to trust that God will be there with you?  Take a moment to choose to rest in His faithfulness.