Provisions

When I think of the word provisions, I think about having things in my life that are necessary to function, i.e. food, water, clothing, etc. I was reading about the children of Israel coming out of Egypt in the Exodus. Wow!! Did God ever show His mighty hand! When I got to the part where they were only just a few days out, and they began to complain to Moses and God, saying things like "you have brought us out here, we have no food, at least in Egypt we had food!" I was so angry when I read that. I thought to myself, you ungrateful brats! Then God provided them with manna. Bread from heaven. How awesome would that be. To eat manna, straight from the hand of God. And what did they do? You got it, they complained. I just couldn't believe that after ALL they had seen God do, they would grumble and be dissatisfied. As I pondered all of this my head, I was looking through the cabinets for something to munch on. Now, having been laid off a year and a half ago, and still unemployed, we have made very drastic budget cuts...and the luxurious living came to a quick halt. So as I gazed over my food choices, all I could find was...peanut butter...and jelly. I said out loud (even though I was by myself, or so I thought)"I am so sick and tired of peanut butter and jelly!" At that point God said to me, "is that an ungrateful spirit that I hear grumbling?" I hung my head in shame. The stories of the children of Isreal are true stories in the bible that we read. They are there for a reason...a reason to be learned. Not just another story for us to scoff at because of their ignorance, but a story about people who are just that...people. God can and will teach us valuble lessons thru these stories...if we just let Him.
I asked God to forgive me for my ungratful attitude and I opened my Bible to read on...while I enjoyed the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had ever had.
Just think about that.