Manna and the Lord's Provision

This morning I was reading in Numbers 11 and saw something I am sure I read before, but hadn't registered fully.  Here are the verses - Numbers 11:4-9 NIV:

[4] "The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! [5] We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost---also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. [6] But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna! ” 

[7] The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. [8] The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. [9] When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down."

I always imagined that Manna was like flakes, almost like corn-flakes but white.  This image came from Ex 16:13-15.  This morning as I was reading these verses, what is described is like clear, amber colored seed. Resin is a hard substance usually made from tree sap that has hardened, and usually translucent.  The coriander seed is small and round.  It says that the manna came down when the dew settled (came down).  I had always imagined that the manna had appeared when the dew evaporated in the morning (again see Ex 16), but now it seems like maybe it fell sort of like a light hail, falling lightly all around them.  They would go out in the morning and collect baskets of the stuff, and apparently would process it into bread. 

Now I could get all worried and concerned about these two different descriptions of manna, but instead I wonder if this is describing a change in the form of manna, from the first experience to the ensuing years.  We know that they ate manna for 40 years (Ex 16:35) and I wonder if the Lord brought about change in the form of manna over that time?  I find that Lord's provision for me often takes on different forms and comes in different ways, why would this not be possible in His provision of manna?

I am reminded of one chunk of time in my early walk with the Lord where He was teaching me about his ability to provide for me, and His intimate concerns and  care.  He told me to trust Him for dinner, just praying and waiting. I took Him at His word and prayed for dinner and not 2 minutes later a friend called me and invited me to dinner, as he was grilling steaks and had an extra!  Needless to say I was blown away at the Lord's immediate provision.  The next week, He again told me trust Him for dinner.  This time I was understanding and expecting a similar response.  I prayed and waited and no one called.  I had a meeting that evening at about 6pm, and decided to go early.  I was sitting in the lobby when another of my friends walked in with a take-away box from a restaurant.  She worked at a restaurant nearby and they had sent her home with extra food, but she had already eaten.  As soon as she saw me, she asked if I would like the food she had and of course I said yes!  

I learned much from this time, and one of the things I did learn is that the Lord is creative in how He provides!  He has met my need many times throughout the years, and rarely does it come in the exact same form or method as before.  I think part of this is to make sure that I never get into a pattern relationally, where I expect Him to always do the exact same thing.  We find a similar creativeness in the way Jesus healed.  Sometimes He commanded healing with a word, sometimes it was touch, other times He wasn't even present in the same location.  Sometimes He commented on the person's faith, other times, He healed without a single mention of faith, yet He healed.

This morning I am encouraged that the Lord is Lord, and creative always.  He is fully capable of moving in our lives, and we need to learn to trust Him to do so in the manner that He chooses, not in the manner we want or have seen before.  We can create expectations, and become confused or even offended when the Lord doesn't work the way we think He should, or even the way He has in the past.  Sometimes, I think we can even miss His provision because we are only looking for Him to move one way, and He is moving another way.  Going back  to my experience with the Lord providing dinner, I could have sat by the phone all evening long that second week, and I don't know for sure, but I suspect that no one would have called.  The Lord was teaching me about hearing His voice, as well as trusting in His faithfulness.

My prayer this morning is that we would learn to trust in Him, be open to change, be ready to witness His provision and blessing, and be ok with the Lord moving in new and unusual ways! 

May the Lord bless your 2023!

Amen!