WHAT IS IT?! Manna and other daily miracles

What would be possible if you woke up every day safe in the knowledge that no matter what you do today there will be food on the table, shelter over your head, and protection from harm?

Oh my goodness there is so much I would be able to do!  I would quit my job, learn to relax, write a book just because I want to, spend my time with people face to face and getting to know them better, take exquisite care of my body, get more sun, see more of the world.  I would paint, dance, be creative, learn a new language, visit new places, pour love into everything I do.  With the worry of how I am going to pay the bills, the mortgage, health insurance, life insurance, the car loan, car insurance, strata fees – and I’m sure there’s some I’ve missed – and have something left over for food OFF THE TABLE, Oh my goodness, there would be nothing between me and my dreams!

At least you’d think so, right?  Then look at this…

^“11 The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

Borrowed from bibleencyclopedia.com – Gathering manna

Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer^[a] for each person you have in your tent.’”

¹⁷ The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. ¹⁸ And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

³⁵ The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.”

Every. Day. For. Forty. Years.

Please don’t step over that.  FORTY years.  The entire working life for most people even today.  Isn’t that just amazing?  Protected from Pharaoh’s army, guided by Moses, given water made sweet by God’s command, and now quail and manna every day?

My Pastor said to me today that Manna means “What is it?” because they had no idea what the thing was!

^“31 The people of Israel called the bread manna.^[d] It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.”

Tasted like wafers made with honey.  They shall have CAKE!

And what did they do?  Did this ease open a life of creativity and fulfillment without fear?  Did it give them power, growth and rest?

Nah… These same people ate manna the morning and raised a golden calf up in the afternoon.  These same people had an evening meal of quail and cursed God by midday.  They lost sight of their daily miracle and privilege to grumbles over their rights and entitlement and attachments to their stories of the past.

But let’s stop a minute for a closer look.  Are we any different?  Every day we wake up to a life of privilege, well provided for.  We can read.  We have access to the internet.  We have water for a shower, some coffee, even to flush our toilets in some places.  Each day we have our own version of an omer of manna – not too much, not too little, just perfect for our needs.  As children of the same producer of manna, we have God’s promises, Christ’s direction into eternity, and power beyond our own understanding.  Yet what do we do with it?

Do we quit our jobs, learn to relax, write a book just because we want to, spend our time with people face to face and getting to know them better, take exquisite care of our bodies, get more sun, see more of the world?  Do we paint, dance, be creative, learn a new language, visit new places, pour love into everything we do?

Nah… we lose sight of our daily miracles and privileges to grumble over our rights and entitlement and attachments to our stories of the past.

Coaching is about doing just that.  We have tremendous power in being so carefully cared for and provided for.  But what are you doing with it?  Are you in denial about even having it?  Are you afraid of it?  Are you misusing it or wasting it?  Are you pointing it in an un- fulfilling direction?  My work as a coach is to have my clients own it, find authenticity in the employment of it, all toward fulfilling the purpose for which he or she is made.  In other words, my work is about seizing possibility with responsibility.  It is about letting go of the past and being present to the gift of our NOW.

I started this conversation with the question, and I look to to it again.  What would be possible if you woke up every day safe in the knowledge that no matter what you do today there will be food on the table, shelter over your head, and protection from harm?

Well my friend, let us not ask what would be possible, all that would be simply IS.  Make it happen!  The gift is yours!