The Lord has gotten in the habit of speaking to me very simply. I run around looking for heavy revelations straight from the throne room, and He gives me the fundamentals. "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise," you say. Blah blah blah. I get it. It seems that when I ask Him to speak to me, that is His way of reminding me that He already has.
So my recent "word from God," found in my friendly neighborhood Bible, came right out of the Lord's prayer. The bit about asking for our daily bread. I have heard that prayer hundreds of times and only now, at twenty years old, do I really feel like I understand that passage.
The simple revelation I received was birthed out of a place of exasperation. I felt distant from God and didn't understand how I could be so full of Him just months before, and feel so dry now. I thought to myself, "Why am I not growing? I should be past this. I'm better than this. Why do I feel so disconnected?!"
It was in that frustrating place that God gently spoke to me. He revealed that I was trying to live off of what He had DONE and not who He is. I was trying to "make it" based on experiences I've had, instead of connecting with the man that is LIFE.
Jesus said He is the bread of life. The bread isn't just a THING He gives us, it is Him. He gives us Himself.
As Christians, and more specifically adults, the more autonomous we are the better. If we can do it on our own…..we will. My striving in that moment was a direct result of that mentatlity. But the thing is, God laid it out so clearly such a long time ago: we weren't meant to go one single day without Him. Yes we are meant to grow and learn and face adversity, but we are meant to HAVE HIM. Our very being is made for Him. So how do we expect to be the world-changers we want to be if we aren't having our daily bread daily?!
I believe that getting this truth deep inside of us is the majority of our progressive sanctification. Our process of becoming more and more set apart; more and more changed. All this process really involves is understanding how much we need Jesus. Because we get Him when we really want Him. Jeremiah 29:13 says it quite well: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
We've got to get to the place where we are grateful for what God has done, but even more excited about who He is. Who He is and what that means right now. Not what it meant and not what it will mean, but right now. Daily.
So God, give us the grace to live this out. Help us to see that you are right here with us, and that that is enough. Help us to see past ourselves and the strength we think we have. You are what we want, so give us Lord our daily bread.
