Manna in the Wilderness

What is this? What’s it like? This little taste of heaven left here by design/It’s abundant, but to my surprise, I can’t hold it for more than one day at a time

How can I know how much is right?/ Will I ever need more than what You’ve said You will supply?/As I gather it up at first light, I pray for the faith to trust You always provide

For to take and eat this sacred feast/Is to taste and see all I need/It’s to grow in gratefulness and to find Your faithfulness/Like manna in the wilderness

Do we hunger so that we know what it feels like to live on more than bread alone?/ For every word You have spoken sustains the life of each delighting soul         

From the garden through the desert sands/To the shores where You fed thousands/Lest I wander to what won’t last/Create in me a hunger for Living Bread/The Living Bread that came from heaven

I mixed it up this time and started with the lyrics instead of the story. One of my favorite memories of this song was playing the first verse (all I had written at the time) for a friend without any context. While they were listening they exclaimed, “This has to be about manna, right? That would be SO cool! Because manna means ‘what is it?'”

And yes, it was about manna. Over the last year, I’ve done a lot of big picturing pondering. A lot of friends in my life have “moved on” from where I am, so to speak. I’m still living that single life, and they are all married, having kids, etc. Sometimes I find myself telling God, “this would be so much easier if you would just let me know long term. Do I have to wait 5 years until my life “changes”? Will it never “change”? (I put quotes because our lives are always changing, I just fail to see that sometimes).

But, God doesn’t give me that 5 year assurance. He says, “trust me for today.” And then the next day, “trust me for today too.” And that’s just like manna. They weren’t allowed to collect food for a year, or a month, or a week, just a day.

And as I wrote the song, I was struck by the passage in John where it talks about how Jesus is the living bread from heaven. The Israelites ate the manna, yet they died. But, Jesus comes to offer us something greater. So, yes, I need God to provide my daily sustaining grace, but what I need most is the Giver Himself.

Easy to say. Hard to live into and acknowledge.

But, now I have a really nice ballad that encourages my heart to do so even when it is hard!