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It’s the beginning of a new year. Just like every year that has preceded it, the year stretches out before us like a great big unblemished canvas. This time next year, we’ll all be experts about what 2022 held in store for us … but right now, we really don’t have a clue, even though we may think we do. All of us have made plans of some sort for 2022. Those plans include the moments we look forward to – an upcoming marriage, the upcoming birth of a new family member, a graduation, the start of a new job, a planned vacation, a retirement, or the like. The list goes on and on. The possibilities are endless.
We’re also very aware of the problems we carry forward with us from the prior year – issues that we are facing personally, nationally or globally. We have made our plans for 2022 with the appropriate contingencies for those known problems as best we can. We’ve made our plans. We’ve set our course. But the reality is we really don’t know what will unfold. It could be amazing! It could be exceedingly above anything we could ask or think. Or … it could be devastating.
How many of us even knew the word COVID at the beginning of 2020, let alone could foresee its impact on the canvas of that year … or the year that followed … or the first few days of this year? Or on a more personal note, how many of us received unexpected news that totally changed the trajectory of our year … or our life … for good … or for not so good?
So … as we start another new year, what can we really count on? Or more importantly, who can we really count on? Now i know that most of you who are reading this will immediately give the right “Sunday School” answer – “we can count on the Sovereign and Almighty God!” And of course, you’d be right! But how many of us truly live out our lives that way?
How many of us live in a way that would indicate that we see God simply as the court of last resort? He’s the One we go to when we have exhausted everything or everyone else. We trust Him as long as we like the news we are hearing or the situation we are encountering … but when that’s not the case, we’re not so sure.
Allow me to remind you what you already know. God knows exactly what your finished canvas for 2022 will look like … and each year after that, for that matter. He knows what the outcome will be. He knows what we will encounter. He knows what we will need. And most importantly, He knows how He will use each situation and circumstance in a way that will ultimately be for our good and His glory.(1)
Since He is the same today as He was yesterday and He will be tomorrow(2), we can look at countless ways that God has proven that He is trustworthy. One of those is what i will call “the lesson of the quail.”
The Israelites were hungry. They had only been gone from Egypt for a month. But they’d already forgotten what it was like to be slaves and were craving the food they’d eaten in Egypt. They had seen God meet their needs and protect them in miraculous ways time and again, but still they had that mindset – “God, what have You done for me lately?”
In His patience, the LORD said to Moses, "I have heard the people's complaints. Now tell them, 'In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'" That evening vast numbers of quail arrived and covered the camp.(3)
His answer seized the attention of the people. Their eyes were now turned to Him; their ears were now trained on Him. Now that He had the full attention of His people, God was prepared to meet their natural need in His supernatural way. He was preparing to meet their need in a way that the people would again know that He is God, and they are not. And He wanted their complete attention. Does that mean that God was not at work until the Israelites turned their attention back to Him? No, not at all! God was making preparations for their deliverance long before they even realized they had need.
Let’s look at the miracle of the quail. Quail begin their migration from Equatorial Africa to Europe and Western Asia in the spring of each year. Based upon the average flying speed of the quail, it would have taken them approximately three days to fly from Africa to the Wilderness of Sin (where the Israelites were at the time). God promised His people that they would have meat to eat that evening. That means He had already set in motion the events to deliver it to them at least two days prior.
Secondly, the Wilderness of Sin lies east of the migratory corridor of the quail, which means that God shifted the prevailing winds during their migration to deliver them right to the Israelites’ camp – a reminder that God will move heaven and earth to accomplish His purpose and fulfill His promise.
Thirdly, imagine the number of quail required to provide over one million Israelites with their fill of fowl. If you have ever seen the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds”, the quantity of birds reflected in that movie pales in comparison to the flock that arrived in the Israelite’s camp that evening. God even timed their arrival by night because the sheer volume of birds in the sky would have blotted out the sun. And having just finished their winter feed, these quail were large and plump. God’s provision will never be less than what is required to meet the need.
So … what does that mean for us as we look at the year ahead? First, remember God has promised to meet our every need as we follow Him; we will never have a need or encounter a circumstance that is too large – or too small – for Him to meet.
Second, be assured He will use His provision to bring glory to His Name. Therefore, we will not see nor experience His full provision until we have given Him our complete attention. Keep watching, waiting and trusting!
Third, be confident God will accomplish it all in His perfect time and in His perfect way – moving heaven and earth, if need be, to accomplish it.
Fourth, trust Him to meet your need and/or your situation in ways that are beyond anything that we could plan, hope or even imagine.
As you continue your journey in this new year, remember the lesson of the quail … and trust the One who goes before you.
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This post is adapted from The Journey Begins, chapter 13, entitled “The Lesson of the Quail.” This first book in the Lessons Learned In The Wilderness series is available through Amazon in print or for your e-reader. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy of the book.
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(1) Romans 8:28
(2) Hebrews 13:8
(3) Exodus 16:11-13 (NLT)
Copyright © 2022 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
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