The God Who Provides

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.

 (Exodus 16:4 NLT)

Manna from Heaven

Reasonable demand is always met by God’s supply.

Corvid-19 is upon us, and stores everywhere have empty shelves.  People are seeking wipes and disinfectant sprays like they are precious jewels.  The problem is not about supply but demand.  We can learn a lot from the Bible in how God taught his people to deal with supply and demand.

My daughter and son-in-law live in New York City.  Last week my son-in-law went to Costco to pick a few things.  One of the items was some toilet paper.  He left his cart with his toilet paper in it for a few moments, and when he returned, his toilet paper was gone.  Whoever took it must have believed that the demand would exceed the supply, and because of the panic over the coronavirus, he or she was probably right.

Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.”  But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then, it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them (Exodus 16:19-20 NLT).  The people’s disobedience came from two sources. First, they did not believe God. They had to take more than they needed just in case God couldn’t or wouldn’t provide daily.  Second, was their self-centeredness.  They believed they deserved more than their fair share, which always breeds resentment.

In times of national distress, people start to stockpile, which brings about an imbalance between supply and demand, where some have too much and others too little.  God has a better plan, which is to trust Him. We cannot speak for the world, but as Christians, we should call it what it is.  This panic mentality is unbelief in the faithfulness of God.   Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides, always supplies our reasonable demands.

The image is used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
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