MANNA: WHAT IS IT?

“So, when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” …And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.” ~ Exodus 16:15

REFERENCE:

Exodus 16:4-15

When Israel saw the manna, they said, “What is it?” They unwittingly despised the provision God made available to them. It was bread from heaven – angelic food; yet, they said, “What is it?” They were saying, “What is the big deal about this?”, “What is so special about this?” or “What does this mean?”

As humans, we are often blind to the works of God because they usually do not come the way we expect them. Israel wanted bread, but God sent flakes of a seed-like meal. Not long after, they asked for meat because they did not see how the manna would sustain them. In Numbers 11:6, they complained to God, “…Our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna…” By despising it, they forfeited the blessing in the manna and grieved the heart of God.

How often do we give up on things because they do not look like a blessing? We stop praying, close a business, abandon a project, relationship, or marriage because they seem to hold no great promise; so, we say, “What is it?” But often, God brings big things in small and unlikely packages. Moses was found in a basket floating on the Nile, Jesus shared his first cot with foals, piglets, and calves, while Jephthah was despised as the son of a harlot but became a valiant warrior.

Years ago, three nine-year-old boys were baptized and joined a church in Philadelphia. Not long after, the church sold the building and disbanded. One of those boys was Dr. Tony Campolo, a Christian sociologist at Eastern University, Pennsylvania. Years later, while conducting research in the archives of his denomination, Dr. Compolo looked up the church report for the year he was baptized. He saw his name, Dick White (now a missionary) and Bert Newman (a professor of theology at an African seminary). He then read the church report for the year he joined the church. The report said, “It has not been a good year for our church. We have lost twenty-seven members. Three joined, and they were only children.”

That church saw the boys and said, “What is it?” They failed to ‘see’ that they were the seed for the future of their church and city. Despise led to discouragement until they disbanded the congregation. What do you look at and call ‘Manna’? May God open your eyes so that you will not miss out on great blessings just because they come in garments that are not beautiful to behold. Move from “What is it?” to “I thank God for it,” and God will do more in your life.

PHOTO QUOTE

ADDITIONAL TEXTS:

Zechariah 4:8-10, Mark 4:30-32, and I Thessalonians 5:18

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PRAYERS:

+ Father, forgive me for despising your blessings in my life. I repent for calling them ‘manna.’

+ Change the way I see everything you do in my life. Help me to see them as demonstrations of Your unfailing love and mercy to my family and me.

+ Lord, help me to move from the place of despise and discouragement to thanksgiving.