God Provides Manna

The people of Israel found themselves in the desert where there are not a lot of food

choices. Walking through the desert day after day is bound to strike up a hunger, so they

had to eat something. They did not know what they were going to eat so the people

grumbled. They had been pulled out of the fertile lands of Egypt and placed in the dry,

parched desert. How on earth were they going to survive? Anxiety levels elevated; the

Israelites quickly forgot how the Lord brought them out of Egypt.

Exodus 16 reveals the Lord sent manna each day for the Israelites. Verses 21-22 record,

“Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot,

it melted away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much, two omers, for each

person, and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses.” For the

entirety of their trip, the Israelites were provided manna. The Lord met their needs.

The Israelites were taught a valuable lesson. The Lord can provide for our needs. What

seemed impossible to them, was easy for the Lord. They saw a dry and parched land,

but the Lord saw a bread basket. The Lord had provisions to meet the need. All the

Israelites had to do was trust him.

Later, Moses recalled, “He humbled you, causing you to hunger then feeding you with

manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known to teach you that man does not

live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”

(Deuteronomy 8:3). The people spent 40 years in the desert, yet they had food, water,

clothes that stayed wearable, and feet that were not swollen. The Lord continually met

their needs.

The Bible teaches the Lord is still in the need meeting business today. John 6:35 says,

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry,

and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Like the Israelites, our anxiety levels

may be high. We may not understand how the Lord could possibly meet the needs in a

situation or circumstance we are facing, but he put manna on the ground. What needs do

you need to trust the Lord to meet today? Like the Israelites, he desires for us to trust

him with our needs.