Only two and one half months into the exodus, the approval rating of the new administration was zero: “And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.” The source of the grumbling, on this occasion, was their hunger. With a common voice they let their leaders know they would prefer slavery on a full stomach to freedom on an empty one.

The greater part of our passage is devoted to the manna God provided for His chosen grumblings. Very specific procedures were given as to how to gather the substance. If they were ignored, the manna would become a nasty mess. Wasting manna was a concern to God.

Our passage also addresses another form of waste. This waste took place when the children of Israel blamed their unpleasant circumstances on their leaders. Moses and Aaron picked up on it immediately. They said, “And what are we, that you grumble against us?”

Moses attempted to redirect their complaints: “The Lord hears your grumbling which you grumble against HimAnd what are we (Aaron and I)? Your grumblings are not against us but against the Lord.” Looking to man for recourse is a huge temptation and a tragic waste. What Moses and Aaron were saying was the same thing the writer of Hebrews said: Don’t direct your complaints (or your praise, for that matter) to men because, ultimately, “It is God with whom you have to do.” (Hebrews 4:13)

In God’s economy, He endeavors to give us abundant life through Jesus—the Manna of Life. This vital nourishment will be wasted if we are not looking to Him as the One with whom we have to do. A personal relationship with God requires that we process all of our life through Jesus.  Jesus is our life—the only one we have.

It is in our abandonment to this living encounter where we become acquainted with Jesus. Our opportunity is squandered when we blame our unhappiness on people or circumstances. God does not want to see us make a nasty, bitter mess of our lives. Wasting Manna is still a concern to God.

The divine economics of “all things working together for good” implies God’s intentions are to use everything, to waste nothing that touches our lives. By continually entrusting ourselves into this divine reality, we come to know Him. We come to know what it means to live and move and have our being in Him. Here is how God has oriented Himself to us: “He has enclosed us behind and before, and laid His hand upon us. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us; it is too high, we cannot attain to it.” (Psalm 139:5-6)

How God can make tough circumstances, which range in intensity from irritations to nightmares, beneficial is beyond our ability to understand. Nevertheless, for those who work through the pain and resist the temptation of bitterness, a deeper, more refined faith awaits, which has great value now and forevermore.

With whom do you have to do? Have you issued your approval ratings against your perceived sources of misery?

Here is a prayer written by Charlie Finck, an author and counselor who combats waste, one heart, one book at a time. His prayer is guaranteed to conserve Manna when it is build into a heart’s landscape …

 Lord, I forgive (fill in the appropriate name). I give you permission to take the judgment and bitterness out of my heart. I don’t want this in my life. I surrender it to You and ask You to remove it—to heal me where I have been wounded, to forgive me where I have sinned. I choose not to blame or hold the actions of others against them. I herby surrender my right to be paid back for my loss by the one who has sinned against me, and in so doing I declare my trust in You alone as my Righteous Judge. Father God, bless them in every way. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Charlie’s counsel and his book, As We Forgive Those: How to Forgive Others, Ourselves, and God, have set many a prisoner free. I can testify to this. He is a kingdom agent and hero.

In our travels some will come to an intersection: they will look out the window and see a landscape that looks something like this:

Where our neat theological synthesis collapse; where we are experiencing the raw paradoxes and mysteries of our faith—God’s love and wrath, our freedom of will and His sovereignty and the mystery of good and evil. Here we simply stand in awe and silence with no explanations; here we are standing face to face with God. This is not empty dogma but a description of the very core reality, and the only adequate interpretation of our deepest experience. (Courtesy Brad Long)

My point in sharing from Brad Long’s Passage Through The Wilderness is that the wilderness is not an accident—it’s a set up. If you are at or near this intersection, by all means get this roadmap. If you are panicky, I suggest going straight to Chapter 14, “Anger With God.” It might save your life and sanity, as I suspect it may have mine.

Father, enlarge our hearts that we may lay hold of the mystery. Help us to not stumble over you. Give us grace to rest when we encounter mystery and paradox. May we learn to honor the economy of your kingdom. May many see, hear, and believe. Amen.

 

 

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