Exodus 16:4 - Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
As part of our approach to our harvest festival I want us to consider the Providential Care that God affords us. The word 'Providence' is made up of two words: "Pro" means "Before" and "Video" means "to see", so the word 'Providence' simply means "to see before". When we talk about the providence of God; we mean that God 'sees before' and plans accordingly.
There’s so much going on here in Exodus chapter 16. We get a snapshot of a scene that will be repeated over and over and over again throughout the rest of the Bible, as a picture of God’s provision for His people on a daily basis. We arrive at a point where they are in need of food as they have now left Egypt.
The people of God are already forgetting the goodness of God. He’s just delivered them out of slavery. He just brought them through an entire body of water. The Red Sea, split the sea in half, led them through on dry ground. Like it wasn’t even wet ground, it was dry ground. He led them through, brought that water down on the Egyptians so they could not overtake them, and yet two chapters after this happened, one chapter after they praised God for that, they are complaining before God saying, “Would that we had died by the hand of Lord in the land of Egypt.”
I wonder, do we picture ourselves in this scene; our tendency to forget the goodness of God, our tendency to doubt His love for us, His leadership in our lives, our propensity to even complain before God, when He has promised to give us everything we need on a daily basis? This is a promise God gives to His people over and over and over again in the Bible to all who trust in Him.
God desires for His children to trust Him to provide for them on a day-by-day, moment-by-moment basis, and is this not what prayer is?
The ads online, on TV, and everywhere we look shout:
“Buy me! You deserve me! You’re only worthy with me!”
Some days we shout back: Enough!
And other days we let a theology and attitude of scarcity overtake us.
On those days we allow what we have
to define us, control us, and restrict us.
God provides enough.
God created each of us as enough.
God creates a world of abundance.
But our certainty of scarcity,
our idolatry of the shiny,
and our fears of others
prevent us from gratitude, graciousness, and sharing.
We live in an abundant world.
Our creator makes it so.
Move our hearts, lessen our fears in this hour.
There is enough for all of us.
Praise be to the God of Abundant Love!
Praise to the God of Enough!
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