What the....?!?!? Manna Diet.

We have lived on the "manna diet" for about 7 years.  This has not been by choice or preference but it is definitely what we have been living on.

Manna - in the Old Testament is what God fed his children as they wandered around the wilderness.

They could only gather enough for that day, or it would go bad.  If they didn't gather - they went without.  God supplied everyday EXACTLY what they needed.

This verse has recently taught me understanding of the benefits of the "manna diet."

Jeremiah 31:2 (ESV)

2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;

We have learned about grace, the GRACE of God, the grace of His provision, protection, faithfulness and generosity, even while we are in the wilderness living on manna.

In our "wilderness" God has provided everything we need and beyond, and it has only been by His grace.  We can't take credit or criticism for it.  We have tried to take over and do it ourselves and it just crumbles; we have tried to find our own way out of it and it leads no-where.

When God was providing the manna in the desert, the people didn't know what it was. 

Deuteronomy 2:7English Standard Version (ESV)

7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’

The people couldn't take over and change it, grow it, plant it, or store it up - it was a provision straight from heaven and always enough.

During our manna diet, I can say God has provided every time, and every time it is enough. He has blessed us generously, faithfully, beautifully, over and over for years and years.

He has taught us to trust his faithfulness; 

HE IS FAITHFUL, even when we are NOT.

He has allowed us to not only live by it,  but to thrive on it. 

Our  house, that has been a refuge and a place of learning and growing and celebrating for a lot of peeps in our family, extended family and far beyond; has all been a grace of God.

In the midst of our current wilderness journey of seven years, He has blessed us with 2 babies, 2 adopted kids, 2 marriages, 3 grands and countless trips to Uganda and Kenya and Montana and everywhere in between, all while living in the wilderness on the "manna diet."
As crazy as this sounds, God has been generous with the manna (provision) we have not just survived, we have multiplied and been blessed beyond anything we could have provided or stored up for ourselves.

 

What I mean by "wilderness living" is we have wondered every time one of those big things happened, babies, adoption, weddings, (anything outside of daily living) we would think.......

WHAT THE. . . . .MANNA ARE WE GONNA DO?!?!? 

We can't work enough, be strong enough or smart enough to make it work ourselves. 

BUT GOD.....

 He POURS out His provision

 every.single.time. 

 We stand in awe and say:

WHAT THE . . . . .MANNA JUST HAPPENED???

Part of the grace that we have found in this journey is that when we have tried to take on shame and blame it is pointless and takes us from thanksgiving for what God has provided to 

*selfishness.*

P = Self - pity.

      R = Self - reliance.

          I = Self - indictment.

       D = Self - damning.

        E =  Self - elevation.

PRIDE

We have prayed a million times for things to be different, but now we pray that when things do change, we NEVER forget the GRACE we found in the wilderness, the faithfulness of God, the grace we have learned to 

TRUST.

So here we are 7 years later, and we are advertising the effects of

 "wilderness living on a manna diet."

We have our house up for sale....SHORT SALE......which reminds us constantly that we have come up 

SHORT!

We keep asking, and are asked,

"What the manna is gonna happen - where are we going, what are we going to do, how are we going to do this?"

And then we remember AGAIN, that WE are not ......WE are going to TRUST in the ONE,

 "WHO IS!"

So, we look to the LORD and we ask, "WHAT THE MANNA.........?????" and he responds with,

"I AM!!!"

 We have no manna clue. 

 We don't know what it is, we don't know how to make it, or keep it, or save it or produce it, or find our way out.

 We know the CREATOR and PROVIDER and

 HE  IS 

EVERYTHING.

Psalm 34:8English Standard Version (ESV)

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

We take our Old manna diet, and let it make us New and change us. 

 We remember that no matter how hard we try to earn or produce or save up

 "grace"

 it's a gift from God.

 We treasure it up in our hearts and let it flow thru our lives.

His grace is all I ever need and it is enough and it never runs out.

Ezekiel 36:25-28The Message (MSG)

^24-28 “‘For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!