More Than Enough
Read Exodus 16

God's people have been rescued and are now wandering in the desert.  They have no food, and begin to grumble, complaining that at least in Egypt they had received all the food they had wanted.  Instead of God growing angry at their lack of gratitude or faith, He simply does what God does so well - He provides for their need.  And I love the way He does it!  He does not show them work opportunities, or lead them to fertile land....no, God just rains down food from heaven!  I can hardly imagine the looks on the faces of these hardened people, as the food they had just been longing for simply falls down from the sky!  Why does God provide in this way?  Perhaps he knows their hearts, and wants to make sure that they will never take credit for this gracious gift of God's hand, that they "will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt..." (16:6).  The Israelites needed desperately to discover the transcendent and unrivaled power of God.  God was helping them to see this power at work day by day.

The Israelites could take and eat as much as they needed for one day.  However, they were given one restriction: they could not store food for the following day.  God was not simply being arbitrary or trying to give them daily exercise.  I think He was insisting that they learn to walk by faith, trusting that with each new morning God would provide for them anew.

What I love about this striking object lesson, is that Jesus later compares himself to this 'bread from heaven.'  In John 6, Jesus tells the crowds:

"...it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (6:32,33).

The first demonstration of God's provision was just the prelude; God later gave Himself in the person of His Son - Jesus - whose life would provide the ransom needed to pay for our own guilty wrongdoing.  If we accept this, the greatest of His gifts, then we can stand unashamed before God's throne one day.  We will never be able to say, "I am here because I did such and such" or "I have tried hard to be a good person."  We will simply point to Jesus and say, "I am here because He was declared guilty and punished in my place."  It is in this simple and complete exchange that I will stand confident before God, who will accept nothing short of the perfect life of His Son.  Every day we must live in the hope of this glorious exchange, believing with all our hearts that "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21).  This is good news for the world!


What amazes me is that Christ did not just provide for us once.  He continues to provide Himself for us, day by day and moment by moment.  This too is the glory of the gospel.  Paul speaks of this in Colossians when he reminds new believers: "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (3:3,4).

There is a contemporary worship song whose chorus runs "All of you is more than enough for all of me..."   I love this simple song because it speaks so powerfully of the sufficiency of our God.  Our lives may be difficult, our circumstances complicated, but our God is good, and it is our daily experience of His presence and provision that somehow outweighs every other need.

Dear Lord,
Help me to be able to live in such a way that I can say with the apostle Paul that you are my life.  Show me day by day that you really are 'more than enough' to meet my every need.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.