Our manna

Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. (Exodus 16:4a)
The people of Israel called the bread manna. (Exodus 16:31a)

The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (Exodus 16:35)

The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan. (Joshua 5:12)

One of my readings recently included the passage Joshua 5:9-12. The reading was in the UpperRoom devotional. The writer noted that after the manna stopped the Israelites had the freedom to fail. He also noted that the 40 days of Lent can remind us of the 40 years in the desert. What I noticed was that as soon as the Israelites stopped depending on God for food by eating food from the land, God no longer provided for that need.

I'm wondering. What needs do I have that I try to provide for myself instead of depending on God? God will provide.... just like He did for forty years in the desert. What needs do I have that I am trying to provide for myself? What needs are you trying to be self-sufficient about? How much more will God do for us if we allow Him, or rather depend on Him?

I'm not suggesting that we quit work (those who are working) or that we stop going to the grocery store, or growing a garden. I'm just wondering about God's providence and our full acceptance of it. I need to ponder this to determine what areas I'm shutting God out by being "self-sufficient" or thinking I am self-sufficient. Places where God's providence would certainly be far superior to anything I can do. I wonder how much better things would be........(and they are already pretty great already!!)

God of all provisions, Expose my "self-sufficiency" where it gets in the way of Your provision. Open my eyes and heart to those areas so I understand that I'm in Your way, then help me move. Amen.

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