God delivers, provides and builds

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

I think it's amazing how many different ways God provides for his people in this short section of Exodus: guidance for the leaders and a physical presence to rally and direct the people, a unique and high profile escape route, destruction of their enemies, long lasting memories, a spirit of praise to turn this into song, food, and a schedule for the food which underlined some of the values of God's kingdom such as the importance of "daily" and the value of a Sabbath rest.

All of this was laid on in the expectation of a growing relationship between God and people, but what's even more amazing is how people (including me) can easily forget what a great provider God is when life gets uncomfortable and we turn back in on ourselves. Look at how quickly people turned from miracles to moaning.

This makes me wonder – how much is my faith and praise for God linked to my comfort? But it also amazes me – God didn’t turn his back on his people, and supported them through an incredible challenge of change.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God means it when he says that his kingdom is coming, and when Jesus told us to pray for this, and for God’s unstoppable will to be done, he was pointing us to partner with him.

God wants to be seen working so that people can build trust and relationship with him. In this story, the food supply required people to grow their faith in God, trusting that there would be fresh manna (“What is it?” = Wotsits?) every day it was needed. Even more trust was needed around the Sabbath. God was training people, establishing trustworthy patterns of provision. God knows that our trust and relationships grow over time, and wants our trust in him to grow strong.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

Pay more attention to how God might be guiding me. Remember the relationship God wants to have when things seem difficult. And thank him for his provision next time I eat Wotsits.

Who am I going to share this with?

I am hoping that we’ll have a group assembling for a SHAPE course this term, and as we grow to know who God has made us to be, this will be a great time to remember and share how we know we can trust him.