In This Issue:
Marvelous Manna
When There Was a Need
The Raven Came
Don’t be a Bucking Mustang
Stay in the Race
Volume: 1038 March 2, 2026
Theme: God’s Help
Marvelous Manna
Bill Brinkworth
It was not long before the Israelites, freed from their many years of Egyptian bondage, started complaining about their situation. “… Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full …” (Exodus 16:3), they cried and complained because of a lack of food.
They had forgotten the years they had been beaten as slaves, lost all their freedoms, and were forced to work building the Pharaoh’s cities in the overpowering, Egyptian heat. Even their many decades of begging God for their freedom escaped their thoughts. All that was on their minds was their hunger, as they traveled in the desert wilderness.
God heard their cries against Moses and Aaron, their leaders (Ex. 16:2), for leading them in the situation they were in. However, the Lord miraculously provided for their needs to show His people He would take care of them.
Each morning, as the dew lay upon their ground, the Israelites found their morning meal. The small, round morsel was white, about the tiny size of a coriander seed, but it tasted like wafers made with honey (Ex. 16.31).
The old and young came out to gather what they could eat. The young took all their young bellies could hold. The hard-working men took a much larger portion to satisfy their appetites. Wives took what they needed, and perhaps what their young ones required. When all had taken their fill, none remained. God had rained just enough of the same “bread” (Ex. 16:15) that the angels on high did eat (Psalms 78:24-25), for each person under His care.
To teach His people to trust Him for their daily provisions, they were not allowed to save any of the food for the next day. Some tried to store it up, but found that it stank and turned to worms (Ex. 16:20). They had no other choice but to trust that God would provide for them every day. Good to His word, God provided this heavenly food for His people for 40 years.
More of God’s miraculous provision of the manna occurred on the Sabbath, the day the Hebrews were commanded not to work. The day before, Friday, God told them to gather what they would need for that day and the Sabbath. They were to do all the work of preparing the meal on Friday. Some boiled it. Some baked it.
It did not turn to worms, nor did it stink that Friday afternoon, or Saturday. God saw to it that they could obey what He commanded them and still have their hunger satisfied.
The Hebrews learned, although they often forgot, what Christians should also learn. We are not to trust in bank accounts, although we need to be wise, good stewards, and save if we can. We are not to trust a government to provide, nor our parents or friends. The main direction we are to look for all our needs is toward Heaven.
It may be a little scary without having what we consider “security” for the provision of what could happen tomorrow. The truth of the matter is that nothing is secure except God’s help.
Investments can go sour, and all can be lost. Money put away for a “rainy day” can be stolen. Welfare checks can stop on the whim of a new politician. Friends’ help can vanish, as they tend to their own needs.
Our job may let us down when economic downturns force layoffs. None of us has any promise that we will have our needs met, unless we trust in the Lord’s provision.
As God taught the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness, the only secure provider is God. In that lesson, we see that He wants us to trust Him for our “daily bread” (Mat. 6:11).
He had also taught them that there is never an excuse to break His laws to meet our needs. Hunger is not an excuse to steal something to feed ourselves. Lying and deceitfulness are not options, just so we can get money from someone to meet our needs. God can change the situation, so He can provide without our sinning and breaking His commandments.
Be it hungry Hebrews in the wilderness, a single parent who just lost her job, or a student looking for a way to pay his college tuition, the same God who provided in the past can meet your needs today. If you are a Christian, call upon Him for His help, and wait patiently as He provides. God may not choose to use manna, but He can still miraculously provide for your needs.
“We can be certain that God will give us the strength and resources we need to live through any situation in life that He ordains. The will of God will never take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us.” — Billy Graham
When There Was a Need
Dr. J. Campbell
- When Abraham’s knife was lifted, an angel appeared.
- When Lot was near destruction, angels interposed.
- When Hagar and her son were dying of thirst, the angel showed them water.
- When Moses was on the brink of the sea, the waters were divided so they could pass between them.
- When Israel blew their trumpets around Jericho, the walls came tumbling down.
“You will find that God’s provision is in favor of those who keep His laws, and against those who break them. — Beecher
A little boy, having read with his mother the story of how God fed Elijah by the ravens, sat on a wintry night in a fireless room beside a bare table. With a simple, childish trust, he asked his widowed mother if he might set open the door for God’s ravens to come in.
“I feel sure they must be on their way,” he said. The trusting mother granted the request.
The mayor of that German town, passing by, was attracted by the sight of the open door. Entering, he inquired about the reason. When he learned the reason, he said, “I will be God’s ravens!” He relieved their needs then and afterwards.
“Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” Psalm 37:3
Don’t be a Bucking Mustang
Michael P. Green
Have you ever seen someone break a mustang?
When a three-year-old horse, who has never had a saddle, feels one on his back, it may be a frightening experience. Some horses will react with anger, rearing back and trying to get away — even striking out with their forefeet at their trainer. Their nostrils flare, their eyeballs roll, and they panic! Others will stand there, trembling, and shake like a leaf. They will not move; they are so afraid. They do not know what is happening to them.
Immature Christians respond to trials like wild horses. Some panic and cry out to the Lord, “What’s gone wrong?” Others freeze and do nothing.
Mature Christians are like horses that have learned to trust their trainer. They sense what is happening and respond to it by submitting to the hand of their Master, knowing that He will do them no wrong.
Stay in the Race
Michael P. Green
At a cross-country steeplechase exhibition, one horse suddenly shied away from a hurdle and ran into a barbed-wire fence. The results were disastrous, as the rider was taken by ambulance to a hospital and the bleeding horse remained ensnarled in the wire until the slow process of cutting it away was completed.
The tragedy was sad; it was a jump that was a low one, which the horse could have easily cleared. Apparently, the horse mistook the fence for an opening in the course and an escape from the obstacle.
How we believers are often like that foolish horse! When faced with difficulties, do we look for the way out, rather than trusting in God’s provision? Do we break away at the first opportunity of difficulty, only to find that we have become ensnared, and that our present difficulty is far worse than the one we sought to avoid?
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverb 3:5