Manna and Mercy

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

So a common theme among lots of groups and studies I have been doing lately has been that God's mercies are new every morning.  Many days (especially lately with CRAZY schedules and three kids needing to be in three places at the same time) I feel empty by the end of the day and I dread getting up to do it all over again.

I think especially as a mother (but not only) we give and give and give and give every single day until our cup is empty.  And we MUST refill our cup so we do not burn out and become so overwhelmed that we simply give up.  But how do we do this in the crazy busy lives we live.  

And then this scripture came to me:

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."

Exodus 16:4

Yes, this is from the Old Testament, but it still applies to our lives today in 2015.  The people of Israel had just gained their freedom from slavery in Egypt, something they were really wanting for a long time.  And they are finally free and what do they do, gripe! Sound familiar at all? How many times do we base our joy and happiness on whens or whats? Anyway, that is a whole different topic.  But the Israelite's were complaining that they were hungry, and they might as well just go back to being a slave so they could eat. 

BUT GOD! (I just love those 2 little words that pack such a punch)  God provided for them.  He told them that each morning He would send down manna and each evening he would send down quail. BUT, they had to only gather as much as they needed for one day at a time (with the exception of the Sabbath).  What kind of trust did that require? They were starving and God tells them to only gather enough for each day.  This is where the what-ifs probably started; what if there is no more tomorrow? what if I need more? what if, what if, what if? And some people tested God and took more than they needed and guess what? It was filled with maggots and stunk! God never failed the people, He provided what they needed each day, but no more.

What a lesson we can learn from this.  God will provide what we need to get through each and every day.  He will fill our cup each morning so we can pour it out little by little throughout the day.  But we must do out part too.  We must allow Him to fill our cups.  We must read His word and seek His will and pray.

And when we go to bed each evening, we may be empty, exhausted, overwhelmed. But guess what? Tomorrow He will give me exactly what I need to make it through that day!

So when you feel like you just can't, like the cup is empty, remember that only God can fill it up, only He can give you what you need and HE WILL EACH AND EVERY TIME!

Sending love and healthy wishes!