“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…’
That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’
The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.”
– Exodus 16:4, 13-18
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“Look, Mother! There’s so much! If we gather more tonight, perhaps we need not gather again tomorrow?”
“No, Sally Jane, the LORD told us to only gather enough for the day. Jehovah Jireh; He will provide for us.”
“But…Mother!”
I imagine if you or I had been a little Israelite child named Sally Jane, we probably would have asked the same question. (Sally Jane is obviously fictitious, but the concept works.)
In today’s society, we don’t rise early in the morning and gather manna, the “coriander seed [that] tasted like wafers with honey” (Ex. 16:31). Instead, we collect paychecks and grocery receipts and electricity bills. If we are fiscally responsible, we keep a tight inspection on our monies spent and saved; if we are fiscally worrisome, our finances have a tighter grip on us.
Being newly married and responsible for paying “important” bills for the first time in my life–as well as adhering to an agreed budget–has uncovered the “Martha” side of me, again.
Who knew existing could be so expensive?!
Enough of the complaints, though. I knew this when I got married, I really did. What I didn’t realize was how Satan would play my fears.
In the two months that we’ve been married, I have dealt with two cases of staph-infection-turned-into-MRSA in my legs (basically monster zits on steroids), a urinary tract infection, a nasty chest cold…and a moderate vehicle collision.
Eh! God hasn’t changed. The scars on my legs are far from comparable to the scars on His hands! He’s the same God He was before I was born.
Last night as I was lying in bed next to my husband, snuffling through my lingering congestion, I sensed God reminding me to just chill out, calm down. I let my focus zoom out from the current moment, and scope the broader spectrum of my existence. Ha! God can do whatever He wants with me! Whether I live or die, whether I work or stay otherwise occupied, whether I’m sick or healthy…that is His prerogative!
(Prerogative: 1. An exclusive right or privilege held by a person or group, especially a hereditary or official right.)
Thank you, TheFreeDictionary.com.
My worrying, my fretting about life…it doesn’t change anything for the future. All it does is steal my energy from what I need to do today. Even if all I have in the refrigerator is a leftover apple, and my power bill is due that day, Satan can still take his threats and go sit on his own tack.
…I have enough for the day, and that’s all I need. Jehovah Jireh: the LORD will provide.
jess leigh hanna 