Manna is Meant to Meet Your Needs (Not Your Wants)

Have you ever complained about provision? Like you had everything you NEEDED, but it wasn’t exactly what you WANTED so you suddenly slipped into a land of complaint?

I did…literally two days ago😳 We were on the long drive back from South Dakota & were super tired. I researched hotels outside near us & they were all around $200, so we kept driving. We finally found one that seemed reasonable, yet the moment we arrived, crabby complaints fell from my lips. “It smells funny, it’s so cold, I need more blankets…” Markel had enough & finally said, “How about we be thankful that we are not in the frigid air outside & have a warm place to sleep?!” Yikes! If I were a puppy, my tail would’ve been between my legs.

God promised to lead the Israelites to a PROMISE Land, not just a land where they’d no longer be slaves, but a land FILLED with milk & honey! And yet, time & again, amidst provision, they slipped to complaining & even longing to return to slavery!

Because they didn’t trust the Lord to lead them to victory, they were forced to wander for forty years in the wilderness. God continues to provide for all their needs, but THEY continue to complain about their daily manna, “There is nothing to eat here & nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!” Another version says, “…and our soul loathes this worthless food.”😬

I can’t say that my soul loathed the hotel room, but the heartstance was the same. I felt a very strong dislike for the provision before me.

The word, “manna” literally translates to, “whatness”. We may not know WHAT this provision is or even AGREE with the way it meets our needs, but honestly it doesn’t matter. We don’t need to know what it is as long as it does the J-O-B of meeting our very real needs.

Father forgive us for the times we become like the fickle Israelites who complained about the manna You provide. Current circumstances may not meet OUR expectations, but we trust Your provision to meet our very real needs, even if it looks different than what we expected or wanted. We lay all expectations at Your feet with no expectation of return. Thank You for Divinely created manna that’s meant to meet needs in ways only You can provide!

#OneYearBible

March 14th One Year Bible Readings NUMBERS 21:1-22:20 LUKE 1:26-56 PSALM 57:1-11 PROVERBS 11:9-11

When Sorrow Beckons Silence, Speak!

Sorrow can beckon silence.

There are moments when silence is indeed golden, but there are others when It serves only to strengthen Satan’s attempt to steal, kill & destroy.

He really is a sly devil, knowing how to woo wounded hearts into a land filled with fear & trembling.

When I first walked into my dad’s hospital room, I felt speechless.Questions surfaced at lightening speed, but none moved past my lips. I stood in silence, not knowing what to say.

I moved over to a chair as the nurse came to check some things. The silence was deafening until the Holy Spirit whispered a little reminder…when Tommas was little, he memorized the 1st chapter of John. He didn’t just memorize it, but through it, learned the power of the spoken Word.

It tells us that in the beginning was the Word. He was with God and the Word was God. One of Jesus’s names IS The Word & through Him ALL things were made! If The Word created all things, then there must be creative power when I speak The Word!

I didn’t have safe words to speak, but I DID have the steadfast, all-powerful nature of HIS Word!

I moved to the bedside & began to read the book of John. Nothing changed physically, but everything changed in my heart the very moment I spoke His Word as a call to my God for help.

This morning as I read David’s recollection of a time of sorrow, he said something profound: “My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help.”

Did you catch the timing? WHEN=> at the very moment I call (read aloud, recite & call forth) my faithful Father for help, the enemy WILL retreat!

As I finished chapter 3, I glanced at my dad just in time to see him open his eyes. His eyes leaked down to the pillow case. I don’t know if it was tears or just watery eyes, but I believe the powerful, effective Word of God, Who created the earth & everything in it, ministered to my dad (& me!)

Father, when we don’t know what to say, help us be like David who encouraged himself by calling on You! May we not be silent when the enemy comes lurking…remind us of the all encompassing Word that was & is & ever shall be the firm foundation on Whom we stand! Our enemies retreat at the sound of Your name, so we call on You now!

#OneYearBible

March 13th One Year Bible Readings

NUMBERS 19:1-20:29

LUKE 1:1-25

PSALM 56:1-13

PROVERBS 11:8

Facing a Stone Blocking the Way Ahead? Don’t Worry! God’s in the Boulder-Moving Business!

Have you ever faced a circumstance so dire that it left you feeling a bit hopeless? Like the hard thing seemed so heavy that there was no logic large enough to move that big thing looming before you? Maybe you felt stuck with finances or a relationship that needs repair or maybe you’re waiting for healing for yourself or someone you love?

Mary, Mary & Salome did. They watched their beloved Jesus be wrongly accused, whipped,  beaten & nailed to a cross. Not only did it SEEM hopeless, death already settled in & His body now lay in a tomb, sealed behind a huge stone.

As the women walked with burial spices in hand, they asked a very important question for all of us:

“Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”

Jesus told them before He died that He would conquer death, rise again & appear to them once more, but amidst their grief & despair, they forgot.  And some of the disciples even refused to believe.

Hardship can blur our vision & spur us to ask irrelevant questions. It’s ok and to be expected as we try to process facts through a lens of faith. God is patient with us & you know what?

He’s in the boulder-moving business! He can move any mountain we face, even when we lack the faith to tell it to move.

He doesn’t give us burdens we can’t bear! In fact, He implores us to give our burdens TO Him SO THAT He can care for us! Psalm 55:22

Father, we call on you morning, moon & night with confidence that you will rescue us! You love when we ask things as your children. You bend down & hear our voice! Through the death of Your Son, You ransomed us & promise to keep us safe! Whatever stone we are facing this morning, we leave the moving of that thing in Your hands!

Those ladies went to the tomb not knowing how the stone would be moved, but they came ready with spices in hand. I believe You loved their little faith that someone would come help them. 🤗 Lord, help us in our unbelief. We want to believe that You’ve got this hard thing we face! Thank you that You are in the boulder-moving business, so we don’t have to be! We proclaim our faith in You & Your timing today, preparing our hearts to receive the Peace that follows when we follow You!

#oneyearbible

March 12th One Year Bible Readings

NUMBERS 16:41-18:32

MARK 16:1-20

PSALM 55:1-23

PROVERBS 11:7