Really? Manna Again?
- Jadyn VanWinkle
- Nov 14, 2024
- 5 min read
Well, after some serious writer/blogger's block, I am back! With the conviction that I may be one of the most impatient people on the planet.
To put it nicely, I'm a go-getter. I take risks and don't really fear change. Once something's in my head, I don't really ruminate on it. I just do it (insert Nike logo).
Honestly, though, I lack trust in God's sovereignty. I doubt that He will always provide what I need when I need it. Although He is outside and in total control of time, I think that my deadlines are much better! I despise waiting! Why should I wait on anything if I have the power to get it now?
"Patience! patience! you are always in a hurry, but God is not." Charles Spurgeon
Whether it's simply sitting at a red light or yearning for a spouse, the need for and struggle to have patience is real! Patience isn't just something to be exercised during the absence of something you want, though. What happens when the light turns green or you do get married to your "dream spouse"? Do you just drop the need to be patient?
No, we must be patient always because Christ is all we really want! The shedding of His innocent blood has redeemed His children "according the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us" (Ephesians 1:7-8)! Riches of grace! Lavished upon us! What is sweeter than that? What job, what boyfriend/girlfriend, what stage of life can measure up to that?!
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." Colossians 3:1-4, emphasis mine
Read that again! Patience has eyes that are set on the things above, where Christ, our very life, is! Through faith in Him, we die to our old selves. And we do not fear ever losing God's love, for He will not forsake His own (Psalm 94:14). We instead live in eager expectation of the return of our Savior, who will take us to dwell with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
Patience, then, springs up from a thankfulness for God freeing us from slavery to sin (past), a satisfaction in His daily provision (present), and a hope that we will surely be with Him in eternal glory (future).
I don't know about you, but when I think of impatient people in the Bible, my first thought is Israel. Let's think about them for a second. I bet you'll relate.
Picture this: you're an Israelite who just escaped the hands of Pharoah and his minions. You've seen some pretty wacky stuff: the Nile river turning to blood, frogs just jumping around and dying everywhere, the death of all Egyptian firstborns, and now the sea parted in two! And these happenings weren't just coincidental. God has kept you safe from the plagues and Egyptians. Not because you are more in number than the Egyptians or really good people, though. He tells Moses that Israel will be delivered so that "you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians" (Exodus 6:7).
So God, faithful to His promise to Abraham, has worked miracle after miracle in front of your very eyes to free you from slavery and set the Israelites apart. He has stimulated every nerve in your body with the awareness of His presence. But now you're in the wilderness. And for three days you haven't found any water. When you do finally see water, you find that it's bitter and not drinkable (Exodus 15:22-23). "What kind of joke is this?" you exclaim. How could God so powerfully provide your people freedom from Egypt but not water? Even though His presence is constantly with you in the cloud by day and fire at night, you still doubt His ability to provide.
You grumble against Moses, asking him what you're supposed to drink. There's children and livestock here that could soon die without water! So Moses does cry out to God and turn the bitter water sweet. And sure, you do shortly encamp at Elim, where there are "twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees" (Exodus 15:27). This is great and all, but nothing extraordinary. It's just your basic needs being met. You deserve that!
It's now month two in the wilderness, supplies are decreasing, and you're just plain hungry. So hungry that you tell Moses he should've just left you to die in Egypt! Yeah, you were miserably enslaved but at least there you "sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full" (Exodus 16:3). Right now, you're just suffering! "Take me back to slavery!" you beg.
But God, in His kindness and faithfulness to His covenant, provides food for you. Just as His presence abides with you day and night, so do His provisions! In the evening, quail swarm the camp for you to eat. In the morning, God sends bread from heaven! It is the amount you need everyday, without fail. God tells you to to take as much as you can eat for that day; do not save anything for the next. But look at His track record! Yes, He has sustained you this far, but not as immediately as you like! So, obviously, you keep some leftover manna (just in case). The next morning, it is riddled with worms and stinks - absolutely inedible.
Fast forward about a year later. You're still in the wilderness and still eating this manna. You miss the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic you enjoyed in Egypt! Now, "there is nothing at all but this manna to look at” (Num. 11:6)! Nothing but bread from heaven! Ugh! What a travesty!
This is where I relate to Israel. I constantly want new, big, exciting things from God. And at my every beck and call, too. Yes, He sustains me every day with His steadfast love, patience and grace towards me (Lamentations 3:22-23). Sure, He does not give me the wrath I deserve (Psalm 103:10). And yeah, all my needs are met; I lack no food, clothing, or shelter (Psalm 34:10). But where's that husband I want? Why won't He remove that thorn in my side that I've struggled with for years?
Brother/sister, the fact that we are saved secure in the sovereign hand of God is more than enough! Christ is the final manna, the Bread of Life! It is in Him that we feast and have all we need (John 6:35). He is the One we must look to when feeling impatient or dissatisfied. He experienced more suffering than we ever will and yet endured, for He knew the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). If we are in Christ, Hallelujah! This joy is ours! This "light momentary affliction" is nothing compared to the "eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17).
"It is only an infinite God, and an infinite good, that can fill and satisfy the precious and immortal soul of man." Thomas Brooks
Surely He is coming soon!
Your sister in Christ,
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