Where Did You Find God Today?

I stared at a freezer full of the same ol’ stuff I’d been eating for weeks on end. Veggie burgers, frozen vegetables, skinless chicken breasts.  I opened the fridge to the same stuff. Reduced fat this and that, no-calorie dressing, salad bags, zero-fat Greek yogurt. Sigh – Losing a pound or so a week on this healthy diet gets monotonous at times. I crave French fries, grilled cheese, a chocolate shake, Alfredo pizza, Mexican food. Lord, why does all the good stuff have to be so bad for me, so high in calories and ssoooo tasty? When I was younger I could eat it all and not gain an ounce.  I grumbled under my breath, grabbed a protein drink and some celery stalks, and slunk to the couch to read my assigned Bible passage.

Half way down the page, my mouth opened into a large “o”.

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”  (Numbers 11:4-6)

When God told them through Moses that pork and shell-fish were a no-no, did they complain as well? Possibly.

I’m no different. I can continue to pig out on fast foods and shell out my money on prepackaged meals, or choose to buy healthier, fresh food choices and exercise more. I can be thankful for what God provides from the earth for my nourishment, or crave the sugary, fatty, salty, and carb-laden man-made things that I can’t or shouldn’t have and grumble about it.

The Hebrews had herds of animals with them and money to buy grains and fruits as they wandered past other nomadic tribes in the wilderness. But did they consume them after the first were tithed to God? The BIble doesn’t say. It does say that God gave them manna –  the bread of the angels – to be their wholesome daily supplement. Each daybreak they were provided just enough for one day, except the day before the Sabbath when the Hebrews received two day’s worth of manna so they wouldn’t have to labor on their commanded day of rest.

What was God teaching the Hebrews? Two things. Rely on Him each day and He will provide what we need, but not necessarily what we want.

He wishes to teach me the same thing.  In my diet, as in every aspect of the rest of my daily life, I need to rely on Him to provide my needs.  I shouldn’t whine because I can’t eat or buy certain things. But unlike the Hebrews, I am still in Egypt.  In today’s pre-packaged, credit-happy world, it is way too easy to buy more than we make, eat three times a day what people used to consider an occassional treat, and waste more time on useless entertainment like Tv, video games and social media sites than ever before. How easily we can become enslaved!

I need my Lord, each day, to help me choose between what He wants to provide and what I want to grab or grumble about having.  Promised Land up ahead or stay in Egypt.

Maybe it would be easier if God isolated me from the world and gave me the food I should eat to lose weight each day at daybreak – just enough for that day.

Give me this day, my daily bread.. but, not the doughnut, Lord.

Nah, like the Hebrews, I’d probably grumbled about that as well after a few months.