Daily bread needed

My thanks to Ian at yesterday's ministers fellowship who reminded us that the provision of manna in the desert represented God's daily gift of nourishment. Any manna stored until the following day became worm-ridden. And if we do not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes from the mouth of God, then it is important that we take on board God's fresh word for today rather than the stale word of yesterday.

I wouldn't dream of missing my breakfast on any given morning. I need to be equally committed to receiving God's word for the day.

Today I noted the parallels between Moses and myself. When Moses first told the people of Israel that God was going to rescue them from slavery they were all delighted. But when Pharaoh punished them by making them work harder the people complained. Without going into details, one of my churches recently faced a controversial decision. The outcome at first delighted me and (I think) others, but the grumbling and opposition has not gone away and even those who felt we made the right decision are dismayed by the sour atmosphere in the church. This is a gross oversimplification of the situation, but I can see parallels with the story of Moses - a leader tries to do what he believes God wants and it seems to make the situation worse.

So what? Is God telling me to hang in there and it will all work out for the best in the end? Is God reassuring me that the problems are not my fault? Is God challenging me to be pro-active in addressing the concerns of the grumblers? Or is God simply highlighting an issue I need to pray about? Prayer sounds a good idea. I'll do that...