This passage comes from the book The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, and I really felt the need to share it. It begins with talking about the miracle of the manna when the Israelites wandered in the desert.
“When God provided the miraculous manna for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness, it says God forbid leftovers? He provided “enough for that day.” Just enough. The language describing God’s Provisions is extremely precise. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered a little had enough. God provided just enough. Then He gave them a curious command: “Do not keep any of it until morning.”
So why does God provide just enough? Why would God forbid leftovers? What’s wrong with taking a little initiative and gathering enough manna for two days or two weeks?
Here’s my take on the manna miracle: The manna was a daily reminder of their daily dependence on God. God wanted to cultivate their daily dependence by providing for their needs on a daily basis. Nothing has changed. Isn’t that the point of the Lord’s Prayer? “Give us today our daily bread.”
We want a one-week or one-month or one-year supply of God’s provision, but God wants us to drop to our knees every day in raw dependence on Him. And God knows that if He provided too much too soon, we’d lose our spiritual hunger. He knows we’d stop trusting in our Provider and start trusting in the provision.
One of our fundamental misunderstandings of spiritual maturity is thinking that it should result in self-sufficiency. It’s the exact opposite. The goal isn’t independence; the goal is codependence on God. Our desire for self-sufficiency is a subtle expression of our sinful nature. It’s a desire to get to a place where we don’t need God, don’t need faith, and don’t need to pray. We want God to provide more so we need Him less. “
This hit home for me. I have a secure job where I get paid twice a month. All my needs are met – I have a home, I have food, I have clothes, I have a car… So how much am I truly relying on God? On the World Race, I had to trust God for my daily needs, but now that I am home in America my reliance on God has somewhat faded. I want to get back to a place where I “drop to my knees every day in raw dependence on Him.” What about you?
