Grabbing For More
But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed. Exodus 16:10-21 I will be the first to tell you that when God moves you from one place to another (seemingly less desirable) place it can be very difficult to believe that everything is going to be all right. There is a flush of anxiety and you start grabbing at everything; anything to provide a level of comfort because of the fear of not surviving. The fact that we wake up the next morning and realize that we are still alive doesn’t always seem to assure us that what the new day has to bring will be enough. So “just in case,” we keep grabbing for more. God would not give the Israelites the benefit of storing up food, and today, neither do we always have the benefit of “storing up.” Yet God has (at the very least) given us this day and a resurrected life in Christ has hope, even when praise and thanksgiving at all times (both lean and fat) seems difficult. Whom have (we) in heaven but (God)? …the strength of our heart and our portion for ever. Psalm 73:25-26
You touch on a very important aspect of faith here that flies in the face of much of today’s conventional wisdom. Jesus counseled us to pray for “daily bread” . So often we are comfortable serving God as long as it doesn’t require a daily search built on dependence on Him. We want to serve God but be self-reliant because then we never have to rely truly on the immortal invisible God.