Exodus 16:1-8 And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your complaints against the Lord. But what are we, that you complain against us?” Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”
Last Sunday, Pastor Kyle continued in our church’s sermon series through the book of Exodus stating that each new phase of life is a new opportunity to see how God is going to provide. Provision is defined as: 1. The act of providing or making previous preparation. 2. Things provided; preparation; measures taken beforehand, either for security, defense or attack, or for the supply of wants. Provision takes so many forms throughout our lives. It can be the meeting of any kind of need that arises in life. Ultimately, all forms of provision come from God meeting a spiritual need. The longer that we walk with God, we learn more that every earthly need that we have is really what is just on the surface. And every earthly need is connected to a spiritual need underneath the surface. That is why the word “provision” really is the best because it gets to the foundation of the fact that God is our Provider. One of the names for God in the Old Testament is Jehovah-Jireh, which literally means “God will provide”.
It’s every parent’s duty to make their children feel safe and provided for. As children grow and mature, they become less and less dependent on their parent’s provision, and more and more dependent upon the Lord’s provision. A huge aspect of maturing into adulthood is learning what it means to depend upon God in every new season of life. It’s is a journey of learning to depend upon God. God uses what we are going through in order to incrementally our faith that He will continue to provide our needs at every next phase of life’s journey. You can look back on your life that you directly experienced the reality that God will provide. It is not just a statement, it is a fact. Each new thing that we go through takes to a new form of faith to learn the same lesson that God is still, and always will be, our provider. If we do not trust that God is going to provide, then we are going to constantly resort to sinful means to meet our own needs instead.
Exodus 16:16-20 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ” Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So, when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.” Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.
Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on God's provision in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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