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Did you ever expect God to do something in one way, but it ended up looking completely different? Did you ever ask Him to provide for a need in a way you thought was best, only to discover He provided in a totally unpredictable way? Did you ever think you were headed in one direction and then find out that God had opened a door in an entirely unexpected direction?
God has promised to always be faithful, but most often His faithfulness looks very different from what we thought it would. As i look back on our journey, i can see many such moments. A number of years ago we were on the path to what we thought was a thrilling new business opportunity in an exciting new city, only to discover that God was redirecting us into a completely unexpected adventure in vocational ministry that has now spanned three very unpredictable decades.
i can’t begin to tell you all of the times over the years when we have seen God provide for our family in a way that was completely unexpected … AND far and above anything we could ask or think.(1) And though we always trusted that God would be faithful, somehow, we were still always surprised by the way He provided. i have come to believe that God delights in our surprise. He enjoys doing things in ways we would never expect … because it is His way of reminding us that He is God … and we aren’t!
The children of Israel were one month into a forty year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. They had already seen God deliver them, protect them and provide for them in miraculous ways. He had already more than proved His faithfulness to them. And yet, here they were again crying out to Him for food.
In response, God promised them that in the morning they would be filled with bread.(2) That night they experienced a feast of fowl delivered fresh to their doorstep. They had never tasted meat so good; nor experienced it in the quantities that God provided that night. It was truly a feast that was infinitely more than they could have hoped for or asked.
After what God had provided that night, can you imagine the expectancy the people had for what He was going to do in the morning? They could envision bread that was beyond anything they had ever tasted. They imagined the fragrant aroma of fresh bread baking, and it was already filling their nostrils. The thought of the sweet taste of warm fresh-baked bread was already making their taste buds salivate. Not only did they believe that God was going to provide and trust Him to do so, but they were also picturing the bountiful way in which He was going to do so. They had a picture in their minds based upon His promise; and they already had a praise on their lips based upon that picture.
i wonder how the people slept that night. Did they stay awake with the same excitement and expectancy of a child awaiting the arrival of Christmas morning? Did they set their “wake-up alarms” a little earlier so that they could be one of the first to see God’s provision? As the first glimmer of the sunrise appeared on the horizon, did they quickly arise and look all about for God’s morning delivery? Did they look to the sky to see if God’s bread was falling from the ovens of heaven just like the quail had fallen from the sky the night before? Did they look to the coal fires that they had used to roast the quail to see if God had delivered the bread to those same fires to bake? But everywhere they looked, they didn’t see bread. All they saw around them was the wet morning dew – and they had seen that every morning. What was going on? God had promised! God had always been faithful to accomplish what He promised. Where was the aroma? Where were those fresh loaves?
i can imagine the people turning to Moses and Aaron for explanation. i can also imagine their bewildered looks. Had they heard God correctly or had they misunderstood? It was morning and there was no bread. Then one of the “more godly” in the crowd said, “Yes, but morning isn’t over. Morning goes until noon – and God is always right on time and never late! Watch and see. It just hasn’t arrived yet.”
As the morning went on and the people continued to watch and wait, the dew began to disappear. Someone noticed that where the dew had evaporated, there remained a thin white layer of crust. They had never seen that before. One neighbor pointed it out to the next and pretty soon their curiosity got the better of them, so they walked toward it to investigate. Someone reached down, broke off a piece and picked it up. It didn’t feel like anything they had ever felt before. They smelled it – it didn’t smell like anything they had ever smelled before. Then someone – you know, there’s always one in every crowd – tasted it, and it didn’t taste like anything they’d ever tasted before. And then in one voice they asked Moses, “What is it?” And Moses said, “It is the food that God has promised you.”
If i had been there, i can just imagine myself saying, “Oh no, this can’t be God’s provision. It doesn’t look, smell, taste or feel anything like i thought it would. It doesn’t pass the test of my senses or line up with my expectations. Surely this isn’t God’s provision.”
Gratefully, Moses would have been there to remind me, “Is your trust in God based upon His promise or is it based upon your picture of how you thought He would answer?”
As we journey with Him today, remember that the way He answers will most often be unpredictable… but His faithfulness is always predictable. His ways are not our ways. Watch for Him to surprise you!
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This post is adapted from The Journey Begins, chapter 14, entitled “What Is It?”. 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.
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(1) Ephesians 3:20
(2) Exodus 16:12-15
Copyright © 2021 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
Photo: The Gathering of the Manna by James Tissot (1896-1902) The Jewish Museum, via Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain)