Where the Illustration Breaks Down...

 Where the Illustration Breaks Down

So I was talking to a very good friend the other day and she was being the great friend that she is and encouraging, challenging me and using scripture to spur me on to righteousness.
Gotta love her.
Honestly, there is nothing in this world that comforts me like the Word of God, even though it is sometimes the last place I go.
So in my conversation with her, I was likening my life to those of the Israelites. Jacob's decendents, just being freed from Egyptian slavery, watched God part the Red Sea. Time after time impossible situations came up and God, in all His glory, showed up and did something amazing. Whenever a challenge came up, instead of getting excited about how God would show up, they fussed and grumbled! He changed bitter water...those from Odessa know about gross water...into sweet water (I know, crazy, right?). They grumbled and fussed about food, God gave them Manna and Quail.

 My friend said that what may come is manna, not the Promised Land. Then we joked about how instead of steak and onions (or salmon and asparagus), we might just get manna. Crackers and poultry.

 My WHOLE LIFE I have thought that Manna was just like the pathetic Lords supper crackers we eat every few months at church. Teeny tiny small white squares of dry cracker. Usually, it made me cough. And washing it down with a sip of stout grape juice didn't help much.

So that’s what I though Manna was. Dry little squares. They put it in jars and had the tasteless cracker for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I guess maybe they crunched it up and breaded the quail at dinnertime with it?

Just to be honest and upfront, the last several months have been marked with disappointment for me.

Lol.. Just wanted to throw that in. It will make sense in a minute.

Matthew and I have been married for ELEVEN years now and by this time I am, WAS, sure I knew everything about him. Until last night.

As many of you know, Matthew and I like to talk. And we never go to bed at a reasonable hour. So in our midnight musings, we were reviewing our day and significant conversations therein when I recounted the friendly, encouraging conversation with the above mentioned friend (the one from the beginning of this blog). :)  I asked Matthew (innocently, I thought) "What do you think about when you think about manna?" His answer:

"CINNABON"

"No, seriously, honey. What do you think the manna was?"

"Cinnabon!"

"Sweetie, its late, quit messing with me."

"Ok, to be more precise, sweet rolls. I always think manna was like sweet rolls!  I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME!"

Two amazing things happened to me in that minute. I actually learned something completely new about my husband (clearly, I thought we were passed that) and I learned something about GOD.

As we kept talking, entirely too far into the night, I realized that manna couldn’t have been this nourishment-free, unleavened, crummy cracker. For one thing, unleavened bread was special, and used at special times to remember the Lord freeing them from slavery overnight. God doesn’t make common that which is special. God’s provision isn’t just saltines. It is sweet nourishment, fortified with all the vitamins and minerals we need. It might be flaky, but so are croissants,  and it is filling and abundant and just what we need for today.

God gives us manna for life on this earth as we know it. The Israelites were on the way to the Promised Land. What comes next for me in this life will never be the Promised Land and so I will, until the day I die, need nourishment from the Lord. I will need manna, everyday, from now til I die. Until that day, I will try to think of the Old Testament manna as more like Cinnabon, and less like saltines. Gods encouragement and provisions are sweet and miraculous and plentiful and nourishing. Instead of grumbling, I am going to try to curl up in my Saviors lap and cry a little, talk to Him anout these tough times and remember that the Lords glory is near, and he cares about his people. He cares about me and isn’t just going to give me crackers when I need His holy yumminess.