Day by Day
Imagine there’s been a catastrophe of some kind and there is no food in your home. None. The pantry shelves, which are usually lined with cans of tomato sauce, refried beans, and peaches in light syrup are all empty. Where you would reach for a bag of egg noodles or white rice there is nothing but dust. There are no remnant jars of least-favorite jam in the far corner, no boxes of instant mashed potatoes or breakfast cereal on the bottom shelf.
Some of you may not need to imagine because you’ve lived it. But even in the leanest times there may be a box of mac and cheese that can’t be used because there is no milk. Which brings us to the refrigerator. In this scenario the refrigerator is not even working, so there is no food in it, nor in the freezer. The situation is pretty grim. It is, in fact, the same in every household around you for many miles, and all the grocery stores are empty and closed. There is no food anywhere. It is a literal food desert.
Even this extreme scenario is what Jesus speaks into when He encourages his followers not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough worry of its own. He could have been thinking of many things as he told them this. Perhaps he was remembering how His Father provided manna in the wilderness for their people so many years earlier. They, too, had not a single thing to eat and no way at all to get food in the desert. But God began to provide day by day. How tempting to disobey instructions and gather more manna than was necessary for the day! In fact they did, and it created more trouble for them the next day when it was discovered to have rotted overnight.
Jesus does not want us to worry about tomorrow’s provision. He only wants us to trust the Father for today and be grateful for what he gives. The account of the manna in the wilderness is an account of God’s faithfulness, one day at a time. Day by day. Our instruction is not to worry about whether He will be faithful tomorrow, but to trust Him for today.
“Give us, day by day, the bread sufficient for our support” Luke 11:3 (Anderson NT)
Some of you may not need to imagine because you’ve lived it. But even in the leanest times there may be a box of mac and cheese that can’t be used because there is no milk. Which brings us to the refrigerator. In this scenario the refrigerator is not even working, so there is no food in it, nor in the freezer. The situation is pretty grim. It is, in fact, the same in every household around you for many miles, and all the grocery stores are empty and closed. There is no food anywhere. It is a literal food desert.
Even this extreme scenario is what Jesus speaks into when He encourages his followers not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough worry of its own. He could have been thinking of many things as he told them this. Perhaps he was remembering how His Father provided manna in the wilderness for their people so many years earlier. They, too, had not a single thing to eat and no way at all to get food in the desert. But God began to provide day by day. How tempting to disobey instructions and gather more manna than was necessary for the day! In fact they did, and it created more trouble for them the next day when it was discovered to have rotted overnight.
Jesus does not want us to worry about tomorrow’s provision. He only wants us to trust the Father for today and be grateful for what he gives. The account of the manna in the wilderness is an account of God’s faithfulness, one day at a time. Day by day. Our instruction is not to worry about whether He will be faithful tomorrow, but to trust Him for today.
“Give us, day by day, the bread sufficient for our support” Luke 11:3 (Anderson NT)
by Erika Browning, Women's Ministry Team
Posted in Faith Blogs
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