Manna in the Wilderness


Read the story in Exodus 16

Bread from Heaven

To gather and eat the bread from heaven means a change in our spiritual diet. As we continue on the journey, we gradually decrease our appetite for the "meat pots of Egypt" — from "What’s in it for me?" — to the heavenly food of "How can I serve?"

We stop looking for ways to perpetuate negativity and discouragement and start looking for the ways that the Lord is giving us hope, healing and peace. We undergo a subtle inversion in our lives. It is significant that the bread fell on the ground, and the people had to stoop over in order to gather it into their tents. To bend at the knee means a state of humility.

We humble ourselves by giving up our former states of self-love and pity, and we trust in the real food the Lord gives us by taking the opportunities He gives us to serve. Remember those beautiful words given through Moses: "This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat" (Exodus 16:15).

Humbling ourselves before the Lord can take many different forms in our lives. It can mean changing our habits and making worship a priority. It can mean being willing to admit that we are wrong and asking for forgiveness. It can mean taking a breath and listening to another person’s point of view. On a deeper level, humbling ourselves means acknowledging that God is God and that we are not.


Excerpted from Journey to Freedom spiritual growth program — Week 5, Day 6

Daily Inspiration

"Love for our neighbor wants to serve everyone, and love for ourselves wants everyone to be our servants."

Divine Providence 276