Manna

This past weekend during our retreat time, Wu encouraged us to sit down and reflect on a passage from Deuteronomy 8 where Moses is encouraging the Israelites as they prepare (for the second time) to enter the promised land.  He reminds them of the miraculous provision of the past forty years–their shoes didn’t even wear out!–and encourages them not to forget this provision when they enter the land of plenty.

As the team headed off to reflect, Wu gave us each a piece of “manna” to aid us in our time.  As he handed out pre-packaged “french bread rolls,” I must admit I turned up my nose a bit.  As I’ve mentioned before, the Chinese don’t exactly excel at bread making.  And mass produced no expiration date prepackaged bread rolls are pretty much at the bottom of the bread chain.  Dry, overly sweet, and a bit like I imagine a sponge would taste is the only way to describe them.  Little did I know as I headed off to my hotel room that the lesson awaiting me was about to come from that very roll.

I snuggled into my hotel bed.  Ok, stop.  Snuggle seems to indicate somewhat of a soft surface.  Those who have slept on hotel beds in China know that not much “snuggling” is possible.  So I sat down on my hotel bed and flipped to the passage.  As I slowly read through the passage a few times, I found myself drawn to the descriptions of the manna.  The people of Israel were hungry.  They were weary from walking around and they had no food to eat.  So they complained to the Father.  And He gave them manna so they wouldn’t be hungry.  End of story.

Or not.  Moses gives two reasons why manna rained down from heaven, and neither of those reasons was a physical satiation of hunger.  It’s true, the Israelites needed physical food, and they got physical food.  But the Father saw the much deeper needs hovering beneath the surface of that physical hunger.  He saw their need to learn to rely on “every word that comes from the mouth of the Father” and their need to be “humbled and tested so that in the end it might go well with them.”  His provision was aimed right for those deeper needs, and as a corollary also satisfied the surface need as well.

I’m pretty sure the Israelites didn’t request manna.  In fact, I know they didn’t because they didn’t even know what it was.  The very name manna in Hebrew basically means “whatchamacallit.”  From the grumbles of the Israelites, I’m guessing they weren’t the biggest fans of this new substance.  Manna was not what they were craving to fill their hunger.

As I reflected on all of this, and the Father’s provision in my own life, my gaze fell on the pre-packaged roll.  And it struck me: His provision isn’t always what we ask for and in fact may not seem to meet our cravings and desires in the least bit.  Indeed we may not like the taste in the least bit.  But our dislike of the taste does not in any way diminish the fact that the provision was perfectly, lovingly, in all wisdom and goodness chosen for us.  The Father delights in giving His children good gifts, even when they don’t have the eyes to see that the gift truly is good.  It’s not the gift that needs to change; it’s our taste buds that need to change.

I looked at the roll again, and felt the gentle prodding to open it up and eat it.  In my mind I said, “No thanks.  I get the lesson.  I don’t need to eat it.”  But that nagging feeling didn’t go away, so with wrinkled nose I opened up the package and ate every last bite of the bread.  And miraculously it tasted wonderful!

Nope.  Just kidding.  It tasted just as I expected.  Like a sweet old sponge.  But as I chewed on that sweet old sponge, I once again opened my hands in surrender and thanked the Father for his perfect provision.  I thanked him for being more concerned with the deep desires and needs within me than with my worldly picky taste buds.  And I asked for a joyful and trusting heart that willingly embraces those provisions that I have yet to acquire a taste for.

And when we came back together as a team, I thanked Wu for buying disgusting bread.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.