Daily pearls from the shore🫧

40 Long years!

“I will rain down bread from heaven for you.
The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.” (Exodus 16: 4)

 When the Israelites walked out of Egypt and crossed through the parted sea, they entered the wilderness in their journey to the Promised Land. Even after miraculously crossing the parted sea, they still had to deal with the basic needs of food and water, like you and me.

So, God showed up with provision every morning and evening. He provided manna and quail on a daily basis for 40 years.

"You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there." (1 Kings 17:4-6)

 Elijah, the mighty prophet, was told by God to live by the brook. Ravens brought him meat and bread every morning and evening.

As much as both stories talk about miraculous provision by God, there is something more than provision. Trusting God on a daily basis needs faith. Faith needs a faithful God.

Was it easy for the Israelites to trust God that He would show up the next day and then again the next day?

I guess NOT.

Did they try to make a plan?

OF COURSE, it’s human nature to take control of the situation!

Some of them did try to gather extra, thinking, who knows, God will show up tomorrow or not.

BUT God did show up. Day after day for forty long years.
And this is just about food. Thrice, God opened drinkable water through rocks and rods miraculously for them as well.

Elijah had to also trust God for every meal, every single day. God showed up faithfully for him.

But it’s still a challenge for most of us to trust God for our situations.

We, in our carnal nature, always want assurance, which God has promised over and over. It’s very easy to proclaim trust in God when we have abundance: business is up and running, money saved up, and stable jobs. But when challenges show up, faith starts shaking, and we start panicking. No judgements, this is a normal human reaction.
But then doesn’t it make us wonder about birds?
“Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!” (Luke 12:24)

 Months later, during a drought, God told Elijah to go to a widow’s house for food. The widow was already in a desperate situation of lack and had hardly enough to provide for the prophet additionally. She was planning, presumably, her last meal with her son. But Elijah told her to bake bread for him anyway and told the widow, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up, and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’” (1 Kings 17: 14)

The same God is here for each one of us. He is a faithful provider. He knows your needs before you even say them. He provided for the Israelites, Elijah, the widow, and her son, day by day, week by week, month by month, and year by year.
"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

I remember, one time, we were short of a certain amount of money, and God provided an exact amount to us lying on the road.

Look back at when God has been faithful to provide for you.
Check His track record.
He shows up,
day by day,
again and again.