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Daily Trust

There are typically two types of people in the world: planners and procrastinators. The planners do their work on the front end, avoiding last-minute stress and scrambling. They work hard to get ahead, often looking down on procrastinators. However, what many planners fail to realize is that they are often driven by fear: a fear of the future. 

This mentality is what we see in the Israelites. They’re afraid for their future.  Specifically, the Israelities worry about their future provision of food. They’re in the desert, journeying to the Promised Land, and they’re hungry. But instead of turning to God to provide for their needs, they complain to Moses. They even say they wish they were still slaves in Egypt where there was food. Clearly, they are having trouble remembering the power of God, who has just miraculously parted an entire sea in half for them. 

It’s easy to judge the Israelites for their lack of trust in God. But don’t we often behave the same way? God answers a prayer, and before we even thank him for his blessing, we’re onto worrying about the next thing. Despite the magnitude of times God has proven he will take care of us in the past, we continue to be anxious. We get fixated on and complain about what we don’t have instead of trusting God and looking to him. 

When God hears the Israelites complaining, he graciously tells Moses that he will rain down bread called manna from heaven. The people are to gather a single day’s portion every morning. By collecting only what is immediately required instead of storing up food, the people’s trust in God will be daily exercised. 

Some people, however, disobey God’s command and try to plan ahead, saving some of their bread overnight. They’re worried that God will not continue to provide food in the future. But when these people wake up the next morning, they find that God has caused their stored up bread to rot. By hindering their efforts to store up for the future, God is teaching his people a pattern of daily trust. 

Christ calls us to this same daily trust when he tells us to pray in Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Along our journey, he calls us to put our hope for the future in the Father’s daily, active care. 

Why can we trust that God will meet our daily needs? We can trust God because he has given us himself. He’s not just the source of our provision, he IS the provision. God isn’t sending down bread from heaven anymore. He became the very bread. Jesus says in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” 

Jesus goes on to say that the eternal life he gives those who believe in him can never be lost. He has pledged himself to believers for eternity. So if Jesus has secured our eternal provision, can’t we trust Him for the small daily provisions as well? 

You can trust God to meet your daily needs! He has given himself to you eternally.