I want to give you context for our story today.  Moses confronted Pharaoh.  And because Pharaoh was so hard-hearted, he simply would not submit to God.  So, God sends the plagues.  They are epic, dramatic, and undeniably a move of God.  Sadly, Pharaoh’s son dies in the last plague.   Pharaoh’s will is finally broken, and he frees the slaves.  By the way, I must point out, isn’t it interesting that, like Pharaoh, we normally fight God until we experience pain or are broken?  

The Children of Israel are finally free.  And I want to add that God led the Egyptians to look at the Children of Israel favorably.   They gave them gold, silver, and clothes.  Basically, they became wealthy that day.  As they leave Egypt, it’s an amazing moment as they walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, like a desert, with walls of water on both sides.  They make it to the other side.  And what happens is amazing.  Here’s why.   If you put yourself into that story and you experienced God like that, wouldn’t you have unbelievable courage in God?   A kind of courage that could face anything with no fear?  

Sam said that the very next thing that happened was that God intentionally led them to a vulnerable spot.   Why?  God was setting a trap for Pharaoh, and Pharaoh fell for it.  But in this moment, the Children of Israel didn’t know that; they were terrified.  They didn’t have courage in God.  They cried out to God, “Why did you bring us out here?”  After experiencing God, they were paralyzed by fear.  Who would do that?  Who would experience God and then allow fear to paralyze them?  

Sam said, God leads us into places where we might feel vulnerable, too.  And often, in that vulnerable place, God shows us something that we could not have learned any other way.  But instead of courage, we feel fear, don’t we?  Sam explained what fear does to us.  Fear convinces us we are on our own.  It causes memory loss.   It convinces us that what we see is the whole story.  It always assumes the worst.  And lastly, fear is connected to control.   Our need to have clarity, but God doesn’t give it.

The story continues, Sam said, they began their journey into the desert.  They made it three days.  They found water, but it was bitter.  So, they complained.  Three days after experiencing God's deliverance, three days after they sang songs about God’s deliverance, they complained.  Again, who would experience God as they did, have one thing go wrong, and complain?  

Sam asked us, when do we struggle to believe and trust God?  Is it when life is the way we want it, the bills are paid, and everyone we love is happy and healthy?  No, it’s when life is hard; it’s in those moments when the reality of our lives falls short of our hopes, dreams, and prayers.  It’s a struggle to love and trust God when you are following God’s lead and life is still difficult.   

As you read this story, you realize that their story is actually our story.  It’s a story about how we experience God, and we can struggle to love and trust God.  We find ourselves overwhelmed with fear.  We find ourselves complaining because we did what God wanted, and life has disappointed us.

They continue on their journey into the desert.  That’s where our story begins today.

Exodus 16:1 Then the whole community of Israel set out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt. 2 There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. 3 “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” NLT

This is one month after being freed from Egypt.  Only 30 days ago, they witnessed the unthinkable.  They were singing and praising God.  They were happy, grateful, and full of joy.  Why in the world would they want to go back into slavery?  Who would do that?  

Let’s talk about this.   God is beginning the process to shape and mold them spiritually.  He rescued them, but they don’t love and trust Him yet.  He rescued them, but they don’t know how to walk in a relationship with Him yet.  He rescued them, but they haven’t oriented their lives around Him yet.  There is deep spiritual development that needs to take place.  How does God begin to shape and mold them spiritually?  What was God’s discipleship process?  Real-life experiences.  God takes them into the desert.  It’s not a nice place.  It’s hot.   It’s hard.  It’s a place that will test them.  It’s in the desert where they will be forced to deal with their immaturity, selfishness and lack of trust in God.  

What is their real-life experience?  What is happening in the desert?  They are running out of supplies.  They have been in the desert for a month and are running low on food and water.  They see where they are, and it doesn’t look good.   They look into the future and are wondering, Where are we going?  How will we get food?  How will we get water?  Are we going to die out here?  They aren’t starving yet.  They aren’t dying yet.  They just have less, and they are afraid of tomorrow.  And in this moment, the only thing that makes sense to them is to go back to what they knew.  Yeah, it was slavery, but it’s what they knew.  It’s what they grew up with.  It’s what they were used to.  As weird as it sounds, they wanted to go back.  Even after all that God did for them, they don’t yet love and trust God enough to know that He is taking them to a far better place.  They just can’t relax in God.  They keep fighting Him.

I think we can relate to this story.  Have you experienced this?  Maybe you know God rescued you, saved you, and washed your sins away.  You experienced His grace.  You remember being baptized with tears of joy.  Maybe you grew up in church, and you know all the right information.   Now, remember, how does God shape and mold our lives spiritually?  Through real-life experiences.  So today, right now, you find yourself in a real-life tough spot.  It’s a really hard spot.  And when you try to figure out how to get out of it, you can’t.  It’s like being in the desert.  Nothing makes sense.  There is no relief.

To make it worse, you try to look into the future.  And when you look into the future, you wonder, is God going to come through for me?   You think through all possible scenarios of what could happen in the future, but nothing seems to make sense.   Your head begins to spin with anxiety and fear.  It seems impossible that God will come through for you.  You have less joy, less passion, less everything.  You begin to go negative and complain.  You wonder, God, where are you, and what are you doing?   You may even feel like you want to quit on God.

Now remember, you experienced God.  You experienced His grace.  You experienced the wonderful moment when you were forgiven and baptized.  Maybe you grew up in church, and you know who God is and what He has done.  But today, none of that seems to matter.  Today, you're in the desert.  And when you look into the future, it seems hopeless.  You conclude, maybe, I’ll go to church now and then, but I’m kind of out.   This whole Jesus thing didn’t work out the way I expected.  I’m going to take over my life.  I’ll figure it out on my own.  Do you see it?  That’s exactly what the Children of Israel concluded.

Back to the story.  Are you curious what God is thinking about their response to go back to slavery?

Exodus 16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they will gather food, and when they prepare it, there will be twice as much as usual.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “By evening you will realize it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaints, which are against him, not against us. NLT

God is teaching them about trust.  God has already proven His love for them.  He has freed them, protected them, and provided for them.  But they still don’t trust Him.  They can’t relax in God.  The moment they have less, they forget about what He has done, and they complain.  The moment they feel fear, they forget about what He has done, and they complain.  The moment they don’t get what they want when they want, they forget about what He has done, and they complain.  They complained against their leader, Moses.  The accusation was that Moses was trying to starve them to death.  But who are they really angry with?  God.  

By the way, being a spiritual leader isn’t really fun.  It took me a little bit of time to learn that people can come at you in the most awful ways as a pastor.  It can be face-to-face, and many times in a small town, it can be behind your back.  Why do people go after pastors in mean and aggressive ways?  Many times, it’s because they are actually frustrated and angry with God.

To teach the Children of Israel about trust, God sends manna.  Again, God uses real-life experiences to orient their lives around Him.   Manna was small white flakes that covered the ground like the morning dew.  It was a flaky substance as fine as frost and tasted like honey wafers.  Please see this.  Manna was a food that met their physical needs, but there was something much bigger going on.  Manna was teaching them that they are spiritually dependent on God.  Yes, it met a physical need to eat; however, they would have never enjoyed it if it weren’t for God supplying it.

Remember what Jesus said?   

Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.” MSG

That’s true for us today, too.  We don’t live on food alone.  We don’t live on our income alone.  We don’t live with our comforts and vacations alone.  We don’t live on our education, our achievements, or our contacts.  No, no, no.  We are absolutely dependent on the voice of God.  We exist because God spoke it.  We are blessed because God spoke it.  We are where we are because God spoke it.  It takes enormous pride and spiritual blindness to think, ‘I don’t need Jesus. I can jump into the day without a relationship with Jesus.’

Back to the story, what was manna?  Manna was the glory of God for them each morning.  There was just enough for each person for one day.  And on day six, they took double so they could rest on the Sabbath because there would be no manna on day seven.  Don’t take more than you need.  Don’t keep it overnight.  Don’t work on day seven.  God is teaching them about trust.  Obey me, and I trust that I will come through for you.

Do you see how this applies to us today?  We may find ourselves in a tough spot, like a desert.  We look into the future and feel fear and wonder if God will come through for us.  It becomes so intense for us that we want to quit on God.  Maybe even accuse our spiritual leaders of the most terrible of things.   What does God offer us today?  Jesus is the bread of life.  We can meet with Jesus each morning and experience the glory of God, His grace for us.  He is enough for each day.  And God establishes the Sabbath for us to rest, and if we do that, we can trust that God will provide for us.  

The Children of Israel struggled to believe and trust God.  Some of them took more manna than they were supposed to take and tried to keep it overnight.  Their manna became filled with maggots and had a horrible smell.  And on Sundays, some went out to get manna, but there was none.   They simply struggled to trust and relax in God.  

Are you curious to know what God thought about their inability to trust and relax in Him?   Their stubbornness wore God out.   I want to read for you what God said to Moses.

Exodus 16:28 The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions?” NLT

The tension you may feel that God may not come through for you is the same tension the Children of Israel felt.  We feel stuck.  We don’t know if God will come through for us.  We want to give up on God and take over and make our own plans cause God is failing us.   What is God doing?  God is trying to get us to trust Him.  To relax in Him.

Remember what Jesus taught?

Matthew 6:25,27, 33-34 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, …can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  …seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. NIV

God wants us to trust Him.   Rest in Him.  Enjoy Him.  Orient our lives to Him.  Let’s stop here and ask a few questions.

Did you know that one of the primary ways God shapes and molds our lives spiritually is through real-life experiences?  

Romans 5:3 We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. 4 And patience produces character, and character produces hope. 5 And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. NCV

Our troubles, if we allow them to, spiritually transform us.  

Have you faced real tough moments in life?  Have these moments made it hard to rest in God?  Do you quickly forget what God has done for you in the hard times?  Do you look into the future to wonder if God is going to come through for you?  Do the hard times, as weird as it might sound, make you want to go back to your old life?   Maybe the hard times make you want to check out on God.  Are you fighting God?

Did you know that manna was God's way of sharing His glory and teaching them to trust Him?  Did you know that’s for us today?   

John 6:32 Jesus said, “Moses didn’t give it [manna] to them. My Father did. And now he offers you true Bread from heaven. 33 The true Bread is a Person - the one sent by God from heaven, and he gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day of our lives!” 35 Jesus replied, “I am the Bread of Life. No one coming to me will ever be hungry again. Those believing in me will never thirst. 36 But the trouble is, as I have told you before, you haven’t believed even though you have seen me.” TLB

Jesus is the bread of life.   Your relationship with God each day is God’s glory shared with you.  Do you believe that?  Are you walking through life without Jesus, the bread of life?  That’s like the Children of Israel walking through the desert with no manna.  Allow me to be very clear.  Let me explain what it looks like to be a Christian.  You surrender your life each day to Jesus.  That means you read the Bible, you apply what the Bible says into your life, and you pray.  Let me explain what it does not mean to be a Christian.  Waking up and getting no manna.  That means ignoring Jesus and pushing through the day without Him.

Last question, are you able to trust and relax in God?  In the middle of your desert experience, are you able to trust and relax in God?

Hebrews 3:15 Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.” 16 And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? NLT

Today, don’t harden your heart.  Trust and relax in God.  Enjoy your manna, your daily relationship with Jesus.