Enough for Today | God Provides Manna

I'm Pastor Kristen, and what a delight to share a devotion with you during our series, The Greatest Story. And I want to share with you that I love dogs. I love dogs — I'd have a hundred if I could. I've had several over the years.

The last dog that I had was a little rescue dog. We rescued her, and a foster mother took care of her before we had her, and she had been abused when she was little. We took her into our home with a name already — she was named Kira, after Keira Knightley, who was in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, and eventually Kira's character becomes a pirate herself. So we adopted this little dog and brought her into our house, and it took a while for her to trust us. She had to learn to trust us for love and care and food and water, and generally just to feel safe. And eventually she did — she trusted us for her daily needs.

This is exactly what's happening to the Israelites in our story this week. They have been slaves in Egypt for generations, and God, through Moses, frees them from slavery. Now they're in the desert, and they're afraid — afraid because they don't know when their next meal is going to come, they don't know where water is, they don't know where they're going to be the next day. And for all of us, when we don't know if our daily needs are being met, we become fearful, and we often do crazy things. So this is where the Israelites are at. They don't know how they're going to be taken care of, and they complain to Moses.

Now, what I think is great about this story — and interesting — is that here God frees his people from slavery, and they are complaining. And yet this loving, benevolent God does not admonish them. God says, "I will take care of you." And he does — he sends manna in the morning and quail at night. Bread and meat, every day. But here's the caveat: God says, "You can only collect what you need for one day." One day — not what you'll need in a couple of days or a few weeks, but just for today. And amazingly, as families gathered food, they had enough for the day. If they didn't gather quite enough, God provided, and they always had enough. But for those who gathered more than a day's worth, all of that food became wormy and was unusable.

It says a lot, I think, about how to know if we have enough. Do we have enough physical things to take care of us? Are we enough as people? Are we smart enough? Are we gifted enough? Are we loved by the people in our lives? Do we have enough food? Do we have enough clothing? And anytime we let fear get a hold of us, we do crazy things too.

Perhaps this is why one of my spiritual mentors, who I love dearly and who's no longer with us, said to me: "Kristen, when you read the Lord's Prayer and say it out loud, notice that it says, 'Give us today our daily bread.' Today, our daily bread.' It doesn't say, 'Give us what we need tomorrow or two weeks from now.'" It keeps our trust in God. It keeps us from wanting more than we need. And it says God will always be enough for us, will provide enough for us, and that we are enough.

So when I looked at Kira, and we took care of her all those years, one of the great gifts she gave me is she reminded me to trust — to trust that I'm going to have people in my life who will help provide for my daily needs, and will remind me that I am enough, because we have a God who provides our daily needs and tells us that we are enough.

So my prayer for you this week, as we prepare to dive deep into this story about the manna and the quail, and God's people struggling with fear and learning how to trust, is that when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the ground, try to be in a headspace of abundance — to say, "Thank you, God, for the day you've given me," and then also maybe to pray, "Lord, help me to trust you that today I will have enough, and I will be enough for all that is needed."

God's love and peace be with all of you today, and take with you — you are enough.