A reflection on Our Daily Bread
Pixabay.com/Matthias Boeckel
Give us, this day, our daily bread.
We ask God for bread every day, but what does that mean?
In the desert, the Israelites were sent manna. Each day, they received the manna they needed to survive that particular day. If they tried to stow the manna to prepare for tomorrow, they would find it had spoiled.
Wait a minute, there is actually a lot to unpack in this familiar story. What are we asking when we ask to receive “our daily bread?” Spoiler alert: it’s not sold in any grocery store in North Texas!
Our daily bread. Our manna from Heaven. We are asking to receive today’s bread — we need only to make it through today.
And we cannot do it all on our own.
God’s message is very clear, once we pause to consider it. The message is that He will provide everything we need, and we must trust He will come through for us. The message is that we need Him. He will provide our bread, our sustenance, our provisions. He will take our full effort and bless it and multiply it.
Why would that be true? Well, the answer to that question is probably quite high above my personal knowledge! I suspect it has something to do with reminding us every day how much we need God. He wants us to know that we need Him. He is an active participant in our daily lives, and we must always know this!
We must also remember that we were not given a spirit of fear but told instead to trust in Him with all of our hearts. The awareness of this leaves us asking every day for our needs to be met. We are left asking and also trusting that He will provide us with everything we need to carry on with tomorrow’s work when tomorrow comes. God blesses our full effort and has never let us down.
However, if we spend our time disproportionately preparing for our physical futures, we will surely spiritually starve ourselves by refusing to give the trust that is required of us. We must order our time and our days and our efforts. We must prioritize this to keep ourselves spiritually strong. We must not focus all of our efforts on physical preparation while neglecting our spiritual wellbeing.
In this season of Lent, we find ourselves once again in a season of preparation. In our daily lives, we are certainly called to prepare, both physically and spiritually. Prepare, but not prep. Prepare, but not worry, for we are not called to worry.
How does one prepare without worrying? How does one prepare while trusting that Jesus will provide everything that we need? It seems so counterintuitive to prepare for something without actually worrying about anything.
It is an age-old question. If God can do anything and everything, why do I need to do anything? Do we need to brush our teeth? God certainly can prevent us from getting cavities, but that is not typically how He operates.
There is learning in persevering. There is growth in the trials. Important work is being done every day, and yes, sometimes it can feel like work just for the sake of work. But it is part of His design and He is a much better architect than any of us ever will be.
Today, as I do every day, I will ask, humbly, for God to give us this day our daily bread. I do not need tomorrow’s bread, next week’s bread, or next year’s bread; I simply ask for today’s. He has always provided exactly what I need.