I consider myself a woman of faith, but if you read my mind you might call me a person of doubt. Remembering the following aspects of manna helps me live my faith.
Aspect 1: Manna is daily.
God provided manna for the children of Israel the forty years they wandered in the wilderness. It appeared with the morning dew. The Israelites gathered it, and it nourished them for that day. Those who tried to hoard it for the next day woke to a putrid, wormy mess (Exd. 16:20). Except on the sixth day: on that day, the Israelites gathered enough manna to last through the Sabbath.
God provided manna to meet their physical needs, but also to remind them they needed more than bread for life. They needed God.
Psalm 23 promises that because the Lord is my shepherd I have everything I need. Just as Israel counted on the daily manna, God wants me to depend on Him daily.
His provisions show up when I need them and not before. When I try to secure today what I think I’ll need tomorrow, it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work because God wants me to trust Him each day for that day’s needs. I was created to rely on Him. [click to continue…]
By:
Jessica Paterson
“Do you think there are wounds that don’t heal in this life?” The women seated in the circle nodded at their friend’s question and looked to me. I had spoken on forgiveness, and the group wanted to discuss it.
“Yes,” I said. “Do you remember Frodo in Lord of the Rings? The pain of his wound made him willing to sail off with the elves and leave this life.”
Some of the hobbits came home from war and entertained their countrymen with their tales of battle. But for Frodo, the real war hero, war stories were painful—not amusing.
Forgiveness isn’t a panacea for all pain. Forgiveness frees us from bitterness so our hearts won’t become hard, but they may still hurt.
Real people, godly people, also continue to suffer from some wounds. Paul wanted to go and be with the Lord, but he knew his life here benefited Christ’s followers. He wore his scars as a badge of honor (2 Cor. 11:21-30, Gal. 5:17). Joseph wept when years after being reconciled with his brothers, they still felt uneasy around him (Gen. 50:17).
I believe God uses our deep wounds to draw us closer to Him. They create a secret place to fellowship with Christ’s sufferings. They don’t master us, but under the right circumstance, like an old physical injury, they ache. They remind us that some losses won’t be fully satisfied until heaven. We aren’t home yet. [click to continue…]
