Riding in the car, to get Sophia from school, Jocelyn was having a difficult time. Nothing would appease her. So I did what any woman would begin to do at that point….

I fished around in my purse for something new & safe to hand back to her…..

My water bottle emerges & I hand it to her as I say, with enthusiasm to try to win her over, “What is it that I have given you, Jocelyn?’ She continues fussing but not with the original gusto so I repeat, “What is it, Jocelyn?”

But poor, J, she is not having any part of it. She could care less that it would be something to distract her or that maybe, just maybe, it could be something interesting or satisfying.

It was then that the question came back to remind me of another time the very same question was asked, “What is it?”

God’s people are in the wilderness, grumbling (God’s word, not mine, check it out in Exodus 16:7) about the food, their conditions, about God, about wanting to go back to Egypt. Seriously, these people want to go back to their slavery & unbearable work conditions?? Like, what is up with that?

God basically gets sick of listening to them & so He provides them food.

Enter – MANNA!

Bread delivered to them from heaven each & every morning. Enough for all of them to eat & have their stomachs satisfied. It was good for them. They see it & they ask the big question…

“What is it? For they did not know what it was.” (Exodus 16:15 NIV)

I wonder how many times the Lord has provided something, right in front of me & I have missed it. He gives me something for my good, to bring me a satisfaction deep in my soul & instead of accepting it, I question, “What is it?”. “Are you sure this is good?”

How many times have I missed His provision & continued to cry when He had already supplied what I needed?

His provision may not always look like I was expecting but it is His provision, none the less. And if I would just accept it, instead of questioning it, it would have the same result that the manna had on the Israelites…..

“Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.” (Exodus 16:12 NIV).

That is His biggest desire – for us to know Him.

At times, this will mean that life may look differently than I had anticipated or planned. His provision may be totally foreign to my understanding. But He is God & His ways are going to be different than mine.

Today I am finding myself praying the words from the song “The Greatness of Our God”:

Give me eyes to see more of who You are

May what I behold still my anxious heart

Take what I have known and break it all apart

For You my God are greater still

May He open my eyes to see more of Who He is so that in the beholding of Him, I would know, more deeply, that He is the LORD my God.