This month, I’ve been focused on Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the third line in the Lord’s Prayer. In studying this seemingly straightforward sentence, I was swept back to an Old Testament passage that also speaks of daily bread (bread is a recurring theme throughout scripture; Jesus was even called the “bread of life”).
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day,’” (Exodus 16:4). Yep, there it is: daily bread.
Background: After Yahweh sent Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, through the Red Sea and out into the wilderness trekking toward the Promised Land, the food supply they’d brought from Egypt wore thin.
So, they did what you and I would have done: They whined.
To shut them up, the Almighty sent self-sacrificing quail for dinner, and bread in the form of mysterious manna (the name actually means “What is it?”) covering the ground each morning. Daily bread. Sustenance to keep them alive.
And He kept sending it for not just one week or a month, not even one year or two, but for 40 years (Exodus 16:35).
The catch was that they would receive only enough daily bread for one day at a time. If they tried to collect more than the Lord saw fit to provide, the manna would rot and grow maggots (Exodus 16:20) or melt (Exodus 16:21).
It was a hard lesson for them to learn. Just like it’s hard for you and for me today. Trust. Trust that our Deliverer will deliver us. That the manna will be there. Just enough daily bread for one day. And then trusting that it’ll be there tomorrow too.
How about you, my friend? When has Papa God used daily bread to meet your needs?
