Patti Burris

Exodus 16:4-5

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. ⁵ On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

Exodus 16:15-20

¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’” ¹⁷ The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. ¹⁸ And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. ¹⁹ Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” ²⁰ However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

The Israelites did NOT starve! They were given manna in the mornings and quail in the evenings. God gave them enough for that day. They did not have to hoard their food, because God provided for them daily. When they did try to hoard, the manna was not edible. Some trusted God for their daily provisions and some did not.

Like many of us today, we have a hard time believing that God will provide for us on a daily basis. We want to hoard our wealth or our resources for a “rainy day” instead of sharing what we have or leaving behind enough for someone else. I was astonished at this hoarder mentality at the very beginning of this pandemic. The store shelves emptied quickly of things like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, meat and other food items. The words “pandemic” and “stay at home order” were enough to send the masses into a frenzy and I believe that even many Christians forgot their faith and stocked up “just in case.”

In my household, we did not stock up. I live in a house with my ex-husband, Howard; his wife, Tami; and our 18 year old son, Ty. We trusted God to provide as we had need and He has. Howard was out of work for 3 weeks and we still ate well, paid the bills, and lived life as we always had. We live simply anyways and give to others out of our abundance. But, God provided. We NEVER had to stock up. We NEVER had to worry. God provided what we needed EACH DAY, as He did for the Israelites.

I know that these days are filled with events that cause us to worry. I know that it is easy to follow the masses into a panic and forget that God has EVERYTHING under control. If you belong to God then you don’t have to worry! He’s got you covered!

If you don’t belong to God then today may be the day that you decide that you need God on your side. I wouldn’t want to live in this world without Him. My only assurance of security and refuge is through my all powerful, all seeing, all knowing, always faithful Almighty Father in heaven. If you have been thinking about accepting Jesus into your heart or have felt a tug from the Holy Spirit, please contact me via my contact form or email me directly at pattiburris@yahoo.com. Do you really want to do life without God on your side? I don’t!