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

That sounds pretty similar to the "word" that was given to me. Collect enough each day to feed you that day, the manna collected one day will not nourish for the entire week. That seems pretty straightforward and not too difficult even for me to follow. God is doing the providing, all I have to do is keep my eyes (and/or ears) open and collect what He lays out for me. Make it a habit, do it every day because I need it every day.

Too easy! Or is it? Five days of collecting manna and all was going well. Tasty, nutritious morsels each day leaving me feeling fed and energized. I was enjoying the provision of God. I was reveling in His gracious bounty. Yesterday I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps, just perhaps, a feast such as I had experienced yesterday might sustain me for an extra day. Not a week, the instructions had been clear about that, but maybe an extra day. I wasn't going to try it out but I couldn't help but wonder. What I did do was prepare myself for going out today. Let's face it, picking up those tiny little morsels is work even if they are tasty and nourishing. Why not lay out a sheet and then pick it up in one quick exercise after it has fallen. Makes sense to me ... work smart, not hard.

I put a song on my thumb drive last night that was going to springboard me into the day with God. It was going to be the key to today's manna. I was already thinking about what I was going to get out of it, the truths that were going to lift me up. What I didn't realize was that while my car stereo plays mp3s, it does not, apparently, play m4a files. I left home this morning and to my chagrin realized I would not be enjoying the much anticipated song.

"However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell." Exodus 16:20

The really sad thing about today is not that the 'manna' I had 'saved' for today's consumption was full of maggots and stinking. The sad thing is that I sat there all day smelling the stinking maggots instead of going outside and collecting some manna. I focused on the rotten mess on my plate and felt miserable about it all day when God had fresh manna waiting for me if only I was willing to go pick it up. I could have come home nourished & fed like the last five days, instead I came home miserable, hungry and frustrated.

All He asked me to do was open my eyes and pick it up.