God saved the nation of Israel out of the bondage of slavery to the Egyptians. Then in the wilderness, He provided food for them with bread from heaven called manna. He provided it every day except on the Sabbath, giving them only what they needed for the day and for the Sabbath.
The reason God only gives you enough for today is so that you’ll trust Him with tomorrow. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions’” (Exodus 16:4 NIV).
If God had given them plenty to last a lifetime, they would not have learned to trust Him for each day. We must be in need so that we would entrust that need to a God who is ever faithful. We can say we trust God, but we need a circumstance to prove if we really do.
Circumstances are not the measure that reveals God’s love to you but your trust towards Him. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him…” (Job 13:15 NKJV).
Jesus saved us from the bondage of our sin to the darkness of this world. He came as the bread of life from heaven once and for all, meeting the eternal need of mankind. The heavenly bread was broken that we then might be made whole.
The word Bethlehem means the house of bread. It is where the Bread of Life was born in the precious form of a little baby boy named Jesus, that you would live forever. And the Lord Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:51 NKJV).
The Lord Jesus taught us about praying for our daily bread. He didn’t teach us to pray for full barns but only a single plate of food that we needed each day. We never need to pray for tomorrow’s meal but only for today’s, and then simply trust in Him with our tomorrow.
Only pray for daily bread and then trust Him with tomorrow. The Lord Jesus taught us to pray like this: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11 KJV).
Every natural illustration reflects a spiritual truth. We think the natural is the standard and the spiritual is the reflection, when it is the other way around. The natural is temporal, and the spiritual always was and always will be.
Your natural life is a reflection of your spiritual condition. The roots you have determine the fruit you bear. The higher the tree, the deeper the roots must be. The Lord Jesus taught, “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit…” (Luke 6:43-44 NKJV).
Spiritual manna is the spiritual food from which our inner spirit is nourished. God does not send a supply that will last forever but only enough that we would need for the day. It is in the daily rationing that we are blessed to learn to trust Him with His giving.
Spiritually you need an appetite before you’ll gain the nourishment to grow. “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment” (1 Peter 2:2 NLT).
Trusting is faith, and faith grows as we learn to trust deeper. A higher faith trusts more, and an enduring faith has trusted over time. Faith is not learned but cultivated. Trust does not just happen but must be pruned by the circumstances around us. Trusting is the most vulnerable place we can visit.
If you want to have a growing faith, you must have a grounded faith. “And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him. Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught…” (Colossians 2:6-8 TLB).
Spiritual manna is the leading of the Holy Spirit, and that leading happens one step at a time. We are not given the whole map of where we are going but a word of guidance every step along the way. The lamp to our feet gives the light to our steps and is required every day on our journey.
If you’re led by the Holy Spirit, then the path you’re on will show it. “If you go the wrong way—to the right or to the left—you will hear a voice behind you. It will say, ‘This is the right way. You should go this way.’” (Isaiah 30:21 ICB).
Spiritual manna is the revelation from the Holy Spirit in truths that go deeper than our natural minds can discover. Revelation is layered, one upon the other. We must climb one mountain before we can see the next mountain that lies beyond.
You only get revelation while resting because it can only be received and not attained. “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Ephesians 1:17 NKJV).
Trust God for the manna that you need each day. Stop trying to stockpile such that you don’t have to trust God. Whether it be natural provisions or spiritual revelations, let God grow your faith by trusting Him with your tomorrow. Pray for the day; that is enough.
Stop eating yesterday’s manna and instead seek a fresh word from the Lord. “The Lord will guide you continually…” (Isaiah 58:11 NKJV).
Blessings to you,
Paul Balius