Manna

“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.” Exodus 16:4

This is one of those stories that every kid growing up in the church hears in Sunday school class at least once in their lifetime. Once in a while, the teacher will bring in matzah bread or something that might pass off as manna to their young audience. The teacher also might get a kick out of telling the kids that this bread that rained down from heaven was called manna which means, “what is it?” since that’s the question that Israelites asked when God gave it to them.

I’ve read the Book of Exodus a number of times in my lifetime, but I’m not exactly sure when I started asking some deeper questions about this passage.

God’s instruction to the Israelites was that they would just have enough for the day. They could only collect enough for that particular day. If they collected more to put away, it would spoil and rot, unless they were putting it away for the Sabbath, in which case it would keep for that additional day of rest.

I don’t like to only see today. I want to see today, tomorrow, the next day, and into next week. Not knowing and not seeing makes me feel so helpless. It’s a control thing, I can freely admit that, but beyond that, it’s just hard to feel like you go from day to day with only what you need for that day.

Jesus had something to say about this idea as well. In Luke 12:22-26 he said, “Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”

I’ve been in a season of what I have called Manna lately. I don’t feel like I’ve got a whole lot of insight for a five or ten year plan. I’ve got just about enough for today and maybe tomorrow, and that’s it.

The funny thing is, even when I pray that God would just give me enough for the day, I still find myself disappointed and even frustrated. Then I hear that still small voice in my head say, “Well, what did you ask for?” All I asked for was for that one thing that would propel me through the day. Maybe if I had asked for more, I would have gotten it.

As someone who wants constant motion and movement, it’s hard to just sit still. It feels like a waste, or worse yet, laziness at times. It feels like I’m not doing anything. Yet there’s something that’s happening beneath the surface, there’s growth and transformation that may be beyond the naked eye. Waiting causes growth, if we do it right. While we wait on the Lord, we need not be passive. Being still doesn’t necessarily mean being passive. Active waiting doesn’t always mean that we are moving or doing.

It’s a hard place to be, in the waiting. It’s a hard place to be having only enough for today, but I think that’s part of my privilege. There are far more people throughout the world who are forced to take that approach to life than we in the West would like to admit.

In the end, I’ll keep waiting. I’ll collect my manna for today and trust that when I wake up tomorrow, there will be more manna to collect. I’ll trust that the process is changing me, shaping and forming me into someone whose faith is deepening. I can’t promise that I won’t kick and scream, cry and complain, but if I push through, I think I’ll be better for it.