Enough for Today

This year one of my personal goals is to read the Bible the whole way through. I chose a reading plan that would take me through it in a historically chronological progression. True confession... does it make me less spiritual that I knew I may face some difficulty reading strictly from the Old Testament for months on end? I've been wrestling with some of the more lengthy descriptive passages just this week. However, last week I was deep in the story of the Israelites wandering the desert after having been freed from captivity in Egypt. I came to a part in Exodus about a miracle of God that I know a lot of people are familiar with: the manna (or bread) from heaven. While I was reading this account of what God did to answer to plea of his desperate and wandering people, an amazing parallel to another familiar passage came to mind. First the instruction from God regarding the manna:

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” (Exodus 16:4-5, emphasis mine)

I was hit with the thought of how perfectly peculiar it was that God instructed them to only gather enough food for each day. On the sixth day of the week he instructed them to gather double so that they could observe the Sabbath. This principle of establishing the Sabbath and keeping it holy was further identified in the ten commandments which would come just a few chapters later.

The message that I felt God giving me through reading this familiar story was so simple and yet so poignant:

His provision is enough for today. 

Now here is the scripture my thoughts immediately turned to that parallel this same message. I thought of a passage in Matthew spoken by Jesus himself. I think many of us are very familiar with what has been termed as "The Lord's Prayer":

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

(Matthew 6:9-13, emphasis mine)

My faith can hold tight to the fact that God is giving me everything I need to focus on and live for him today. As much as I try to run ahead, God has been pressing into my head this truth over and over: His provision is enough for today. What I need to do is daily put my trust in God. Asking him to make my heart more and more hungry for him. Pray for the chance to love someone as a reflection of who Christ is today. I know that my future is secure because he holds tomorrow. What I need to do is be beautifully desperate for him today.