Walking Daily in Trust
Exodus 16:7–8 (NIV)
7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD.”
Jesus taught us to pray, “give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). When the Israelites were wandering through the wilderness, God provided food for them, manna and quail, every day, but only one day at a time (with the exceptions of Fridays where God provided twice the amount so they didn’t have to work on the Sabbath). Unfortunately, the initial tendency of the Israelites was to hoard as much manna as they could, after all, who knew what tomorrow would hold. There might not be more. Their hoarding led to detrimental results, the manna went bad, and God was angry at their disobedience. It demonstrated a lack of trust in God. Wouldn’t the same God who sent the plagues on the Egyptians (while protecting the Israelites), who parted the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army, who provided water in the desert, be able to take care of their daily needs? Jesus also said in his Sermon on the Mount, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear…who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life…But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:25, 27, 33).” We can live in fear or worry about tomorrow, or we can seek after God, living rightly, and trust that God will provide everything we need. It might not be everything we want, but it will be exactly what we need for that day. And then we trust God for the next day, and the next, and the day after that. In this God teaches us to walk daily by faith.