Day 5: The Bread God Has Given

I want to share today's devotion instead of my response to it. What I've complained about can't be discussed out in the open yet, if ever. It's nothing bad, but I'm waiting for a change.

Read
Exodus 16:9-16
Read the passage aloud. Have fun pronouncing man-hu in different ways. If you'd like, read the expanded passage to get a picture of the complaining that came before this and the obsessive hoarding that came after (Exodus 16 from The Message). Both give us a picture of the neediness of the Israelites at this time.

Thinking
Read the passage again slowly, pausing to feel each emotion of the Israelites:

• the deep neediness of complaining
• the excitement of seeing the glory of God visible in the Cloud
• the perplexity of seeing this strange bread from heaven
• the satisfaction of having enough

Then consider: If you were to complain to God right now, what would your complaint be? (Don't choose this yourself; wait and let it come to you.) In what ways, if any, have you been perplexed by God's response to your complaining? How might God have truly provided enough but you didn't recognize it as God's bread from heaven-exactly what you needed?

Pray
If you haven't formally complained to God about this matter, do so. Ask God to show you how he has provided you with enough, even though you still might wonder.

Live
Sit in the quiet and feel God's "enoughness" in your body. Where do you feel it? In arms that are full? In a quiet mind? In a stomach that feels full? In muscles that work well? If you can really mean it, try delighting in this enoughness.

CJ