Day 30: Don't miss the manna.

Today was back to reality. I tend to take the time on my weekends without kids to completely throw myself into some other world. That world is usually filled with fun, laughs, people who love me, and plenty of time alone with God. Then, like in most of your lives I presume, Monday comes, and the chaos begins.

The best thing, though, is that even when the alarm clock first blares on a Monday morning, His mercy is new. The grace is fresh, the leaves have changed, and the sun has once again risen on the rest of your life. God is still on the throne, Jesus still sits at His right hand, and this world we live in is still not our home. However, as we live here as aliens that sometimes feel trapped in a sick web of deceitful human error, the Lord still provides us with the words we need to hear at the exact moment that our ears begin to bleed for them. That's how today's lesson came about.

DON'T MISS THE MANNA.
While I was at work today, a dear friend, and faithful prayer warrior stopped by my office. She came directly from the prayer chapel, where she had spent her lunch break communing with the Lord, and said she just wanted to give me a hug. Now, hugs are wonderful, but if you knew this woman you would know that the Holy Spirit would never allow her to stop there. She told me she'd been reading this blog, and she inquired as to how things were going for me today. What was the condition of my heart?

As I started to tell her about the amazing blessings God has been pouring on my through this time of intense sadness, I told her that when this all started I was in a hurry to just get to the end. I knew these events and this process and this pain would eventually lead to some testimony of God's grace in my life, but I honestly just hoped I could skip the middle. As I know I'm not near finished with this journey of grieving and rebuilding, I am seeing God's hand even right here in the valley. This part of the process that I was so anxious to avoid is proving to be more bearable than I would have imagined.

While explaining this to my wise friend, she just nodded her head and smiled until my rambling stopped. And then, her response came to concisely bring meaning from all my nonsense. She said, "But if you could have skipped this part, you would have missed the manna."

In the book of Exodus, the Israelites were wandering around in desert wasteland, trying to trust God to lead them to the promise land. They were failing, and they were starving. They began to complain about the hunger that was ravaging their bodies, and God heard them.

God spoke to Moses,
"I've listened to the complaints of the Israelites. Now tell them: 'At dusk you will eat meat and at dawn you'll eat your fill of bread; and you'll realize that I am God, your God.'" That evening quail flew in and covered the camp and in the morning there was a layer of dew all over the camp. When the layer of dew had lifted, there on the wilderness ground was a fine flaky something, fine as frost on the ground. The Israelites took one look and said to one another, man-hu (What is it?). They had no idea what it was. And these are God's instructions: 'Gather enough for each person, about two quarts per person; gather enough for everyone in your tent.'" The People of Israel went to work and started gathering, some more, some less, but when they measured out what they had gathered, those who gathered more had no extra and those who gathered less weren't short - each person had gathered as much as was needed.
Moses said to them, "Don't leave any of it until morning." Ex. 16:11-19 (The Message)
--As we wander through our own dry valleys and deserts in our lives, God gives us exactly what we need for the moment we need it. Just like He told the people not to try to save any of the manna for the next day, He tells us that we can't try to hoard enough grace or strength to last us all the way through this trial. Just as their manna fell from the sky each day, sweet and satisfying, God is able to provide for our every need and satisfy our every longing. As we ask Him to care for us, He brings a sense of joy and thanksgiving to us right here in the middle of the journey.