Friday 22 Aug 2014

August 22: Exodus 16:22-30

Key Verse: Exodus 16:26
Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.

Devotion:
When God started to give the people the Manna in the desert it was something very different to what they expected or wanted; but it is exactly what they needed. God also made sure that He would not break His own rules by making them work on the Sabbath day but gave them enough on the sixth day for two days. They had to do their bit each day by collecting and even preparing the food, but on the Sabbath there was none to collect; those that had obeyed and collected enough the previous day still had to prepare food on the Sabbath but that was all.

God wants obedience from us, not questions and complaints about things not going the way we want. He prepares and supplies our needs as He knows best. We need to be able to obey what He has told us and live for Him. Yes it is hard when we are used to so much else and want to go back to our own old ways, but God wants us to be able to see that His ways are best even when we do not think so. I still find it hard to give up my own ways at times but every time I do I come out the other side seeing how much better it is to listen to Him and obey!

If we have slim picking it is because God knows that we do not need more than we are going to get; but we still have to do something. Don’t stop everything and expect God to do it all because He will supply what you need for you to obey. If we have an abundance and we see a need then we should use it to the fullest extent so that we can continue to obey God.

Being run down, let down, rejected and the like will not encourage us to follow and obey Christ. He knows this and that is why He will supply what we need for the job that he has given us. It may well be hard work gathering what He does open up for us, but it will be what we need. It may not be what we would like or think that we need, but it will actually be what we need. That may be the hardest thing to accept!

Points to Ponder:
Do you accept God’s decisions?

Do you praise Him for supplying your needs?