provision

Are you grumbling about your manna?

Posted on September 28, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The Lord has plans to prosper His children. He makes continual promises that we should not fear, because He knows our needs, and He will supply them. Matthew 6:31-34 is one example. The verses say, “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

The People were wandering in the desert and had gotten mighty hungry. (Exodus 16) They began longing for the time of their captivity because at least then, they had bread and meat (Exodus 16:3). They began to grumble against Moses and against the LORD.

So, “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.” (Exodus 16:4)

The economic situation these days has been long, hard, and painful. Many people, Christians included, have lost jobs, have faced foreclosure, and have had to undergo extreme austerity measures (voluntarily or involuntarily). Americans have been so used to prosperity that we have planned for it in the long-term with retirement accounts that we expected to remain full and fuller as time went on. We expected that after ten or twenty or thirty years that we would of course sell our houses and reap a comfortable profit. We were used to corporate loyalty and lengthy terms of employment, if not permanent ones, if we obtain tenure or have a strong union to back us. Long-term perspectives of our own personal wealth was the norm.

Yet, God said He would supply us. ‘My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 4:19).

The LORD told Moses that He was doing it to test them. Not that God didn’t know the outcome of the test, like He needed to learn something, but that He wanted to restrict their supply so that they would learn to more faithfully depend on Him. Is that your situation? It is my situation for sure.

Could you be undergoing a test so that you will learn to depend on Him to greater degree and be strengthened for trials?

Do not worry about what you will eat nor what you shall wear. Do not worry about tomorrow. He provides. Think of the Israelites. Think on His promises to keep us and provide for us. If you only have enough today, do not fret, for you are blessed with bread from heaven!

theology

Example: God’s provision

Posted on July 20, 2023July 22, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Example: God’s Healing
Example: God’s Omniscience

Our frail frame, our restless mind, our quailing spirit, often doubts God’s promise to provide for us. He promised to sustain the Hebrews in the desert for 40 years. And He did. Every day, the manna came down (except the Sabbath, but they got double on the day before).

Here in 2 Kings, we see another incident of provision. A shorter term, a smaller miracle, but nonetheless, a fulfillment of His promise to sustain His people in the ways they need sustaining.

The Axe Head Recovered

Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too cramped for us. Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us each take from there a beam, and let us construct a place there for ourselves, to live there.” So he said, “Go.” Then one of them said, “Please agree and go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.” So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But it happened that as one of them was cutting down a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Oh, my master! It was borrowed!” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
(2 Kings 6:1-7).

The MacArthur study note says of verse 5,

“Iron was expensive, and relatively rare in Israel at that time, and the student-prophet was very poor. The axe head was loaned to the prophet since he could not have afforded it on his own and would have no means to reimburse the owner for it.”

“Elisha threw a stick in the river at the exact spot where the axe head entered, and the stick caused the heavy iron object to float to the surface. Through this miracle, the Lord again provided for one who was faithful to Him.” ~John MacArthur

If you’re feeling worried about your future, short term or long term, remember that the Lord promised to sustain us. Yes, we do have to work. We aren’t wandering Jews in the desert waiting for manna to drop from heaven. We don’t lay on the couch and do nothing to help ourselves. But provision does come from heaven, whether in the form of a job, or a surprise check, or a new helper, or in a thousand ways our puny brains can’t even imagine.

The student-prophets in those verses were working to build a larger dwelling since there had been such an increase in enrollments, they outgrew their old school. But God does provide, not only the big things like manna, but the little things like an axe head. Trust Him.

end time, manna, prophecy, supply

Are you grumbling about your manna?

Posted on July 12, 2023July 17, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The Lord has plans to prosper His children. He makes continual promises that we should not fear, because He knows our needs, and He will supply them. Matthew 6:31-34 is one example. The verses say,

“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

The People were wandering in the desert and had gotten mightily hungry. (Exodus 16) They began longing for the time of their captivity because at least then, they had bread and meat (Exodus 16:3). They began to grumble against Moses and against the LORD.

These difficult economic times have been long, hard, and painful. Many people, Christians included, have lost jobs, have faced foreclosure, and have had to undergo extreme austerity measures (voluntarily or involuntarily). Pension plans are wiped out. Americans have been so used to prosperity that we have planned for it in the long-term with retirement accounts that we expected to remain full and fuller as time went on. We expected that after ten or twenty or thirty years that we would of course sell our houses and reap a comfortable profit. We were used to corporate loyalty and lengthy terms of employment, if not permanent ones, if we obtain tenure or have a strong union to back us. Long-term perspectives of our own personal wealth was the norm.

Long-term is no longer the norm. The weather, the economy, the animals, the government, the individual…all are behaving strangely now. God is lifting His Hand and we see the result of our country having less protection as we adjust to the new reality.

Yet, God said He would supply us. I can almost hear the prayers of Christians who beg for supply. Who pray for restoration of what they once had. I can almost hear many brothers and sisters crying out, “Where is it?? ‘My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 4:19) So where is it?”

It is in Matthew 6 and it is in Exodus 16. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.” and “the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day.” God IS supplying you, faithful one. He just may be doing it in a manna situation, a one-day supply instead of extra, like before. He sent the Israelites a one day portion delivered, on time, every time. He even made it so that their clothes did not wear out. (Deut 29:5) The LORD told Moses that He was doing it to test them. Not that God didn’t know the outcome of the test, like He needed to learn something, but that He wanted to restrict their supply so that they would learn to more faithfully depend on Him. Is that your situation? Could you be undergoing a test so that you will learn to depend on Him to greater degree and be strengthened for trials?

theology

A wonderful end to my week: The Lord sustains us in little ways too

Posted on August 28, 2021August 28, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

flowers and velvet pillow cover, how great these surprises are!

It was a tough week in my little sphere. A lot of people are struggling, we’re all stretched thin. Prices are rising fast and I juggle and jiggle and juggle the budget again and again to adjust. I arrive home hot and tired. I’m waiting for the brutal Georgia August to slide into September cooler fall weather.

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