Manna and Trusting God

In the desert, the Israelites were given manna to eat. Each day, they had to collect what they needed for that day, except for the day before the Sabbath, when they were to collect what they needed for the Sabbath as well. They could not try to collect for more than one day or save what they had collected. Any manna left over at the end of the day went bad. The only exception to this was the Sabbath, when the manna would miraculously last for two days.

Talk about an exercising in trusting God. They were compliant reliant on God providing what they needed.

To put it in perspective, imagine if you only had enough food in your house for today. And if you tried to stock your pantries with food for beyond one day, it went mouldy. Or imagine that you only had enough money for today. No savings, no extra money in the bank account and no retirement plans. Scary, isn’t it?

In today’s western world, we like to make plans. We don’t just fill our cupboards and refrigerators with food for one day. Often we have enough food there to keep us going for a month. We start to stress when our money runs low or we’re not sure what our next source of income will be or we don’t know if we can survive through retirement.

Now there’s nothing wrong with planning. In today’s world, we need do at least some planning. But most of us are pretty good with planning. Well at least, we do a very good job at worrying about the future. But we’re not so good with trusting God.

Maybe we need to do a little less worrying and a little more trusting. Maybe we need to stop being so anxious over problems that aren’t even here yet. Maybe we need to start enjoying what God provides us with, instead of wanting to hoard it for a rainy day. And maybe we need to spend a lot more time being thankful for each and every day that we have what we need for that day. Because for today at least, that’s all we really need.

(Image details: The Gathering of the Manna at the Musée de la Chartreuse. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Image is in the public domain)

Suspicious Minds

Recently I found myself in a situation where I didn’t trust somebody. Now I’m usually a person who does trust people, who always believes the best in others. But with this particular person, I just had this niggly feeling that something wasn’t right. I even mentioned my suspicions to others. And then felt terrible that I had done that.

I tried to give this person the benefit of the doubt. When a situation arose in which I had to trust them to a certain degree, my first reaction was ‘No, don’t do that.’ But I thought no. I don’t want to be someone who thinks people are deceiving them. I want to believe that people generally have good intentions. So I acted against instinct. And then worried that I had done the wrong thing.

It turns out my suspicions were correct. And at first, that was a bit of a relief. At least now I knew that I wasn’t suspecting someone without good reason. But at the same time, I also felt a bit deflated.

Yeah, I was right. This person was trying to deceive myself and others. So what? I still didn’t feel that good that I had been so ready to believe the worst of somebody. I don’t want to be that kind of person. I never was before.

It kind of brings up a whole load of questions for me too.

Was I right in suspecting them? Should I have gone with my instinct? And could that niggly feeling perhaps even have been God’s way of warning me?

Or should I have trusted them anyway? Even though they didn’t deserve my trust. Even though my instincts were right. Should I still believe the best of people, even though it means sometimes I may be wrong?

I don’t know the answers to those questions. I still don’t know whether I did the wrong thing in trusting this person or whether I did the wrong thing in suspecting them. And should a Christian lean more towards trusting or lean more towards listening to the voice that tells them something is not quite right?

I don’t want to be a suspicious and paranoid person. I really don’t like the fact that I was that person for a time. And I really hope that my suspicions and paranoia end there. But I’m worried they won’t.

Because the problem is, once suspicions have been proved correct, it’s hard not to listen to them the next time around.

I’m not annoyed with this person for trying to deceive me. But I am annoyed with myself that I wasn’t deceived. I’d rather be deceived. I’d rather trust and be hurt, than not be able to trust at all. I’d rather believe the best and be proved wrong, than believe the worst and hate myself because of it.

But at the same time, maybe that feeling that something wasn't right was God telling me to be careful. And maybe I should have listened to it more.