Text:
Exodus 16:1-12.
INTRODUCTION:
1) A modern day phenomenon: Dave Branon, one of the
writers of Our Daily Bread, wrote
that he and his wife liked to rollerblade. Near the end of their favorite
routes was a long uphill. When they first started taking that route he tried to
encourage his wife by saying, “Are you ready for the hill?” just before pushing
their way up. But one day his wife said, “Could you please not say that? You
make it sound like a huge mountain and that discourages me.” It is better for
Sue to face that hill one push at a time instead of seeing the entire steep
hill at once.
2) An ancient time phenomenon: A few weeks after their
joyful exodus from
ONE DAY AT A TIME: A better way to handle everyday life.
1) God created in days: Read the first chapter of
Genesis and see how God created the universe, the world and everything in it in
six days. With His omnipotent power, no one will doubt that He could do it in
one day or the blink of an eye if He so chose to but He did not. Have you every
wonder why didn’t God do it that way? Could it because
He wanted to show us that there is no need to do all things in one day? He may
want to show us that things need to be done in sequences. God may also want to
show us that He has all the plans in His mind and there is no need to rush to
completion in one day. We don’t know all the answers and we don’t need to. All
we need to know is that God took time to finish a great job one day at a time.
2) God cares the days: Besides the fact that God
created everything in days, He really cared for the days. At the end of each
day in His creation, God blessed each day with His approval: “God saw all that
He had created and it was very good. And there was evening and there was
morning.” This same blessing was given to each of the six days in the creation
story. That doesn’t mean God didn’t approve things created the day before. But
it means God has special interest and approval of things He did on that day:
one day and each day is important in His eyes.
3) God loves us each day: In Lamentation, Prophet
Jeremiah was kept prisoner because of his faithful service to the Lord. In the
dungeon of hopelessness, he wrote “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not
consumed, for His compassion never fail. They are new
every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (3:22-23) No matter where we may be
or whatever circumstance we may be in, God’s love and compassion will pour on
us each morning everyday. His faithfulness will never fail.
4) God provides us each day: When Jesus delivered His
Sermon on the Mount, He emphasized on the faithful provision of God on our
needs. In Matthew 6:24-33, Jesus assured us that God would provide all our
needs each day as He did for the birds and the lilies. Then He concluded his
teaching on the providential care of God “Your Heavenly Father knows that you
need them, and all these things will be given to you. Do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of
it own.” (6:32-34)
THE JOURNEY OF LIFE: (Exodus 16:1-20)
1) A time to rejoice: A few weeks before problem
of life came to the Israelis, they had just celebrated the crossing of the
2) A time to complain: Not too long after the
Israelis were full of dreams of a bright future, they traveled for 3 days to
the
3) Then comes
the blow:
Six weeks after they left
4) Here is the blame game: The Israelis did what they
did the best during the journey of the exodus: complaint. They complained
against Moses their greatest leader whom they praised and danced only 6 weeks
ago. They even grumbled against God who initiated the exodus. They wanted to
die in the land of slavery with their mouth full of meat instead of a trip to
freedom and dignity. They had lost the direction and purpose of their life.
They want to trade something of eternal importance with something that only
last for a day: food in the stomach.
5) Can God do a better job: Some may argue why didn’t God lead His people to the Promised Land with roses
and red carpet all the way from
6) God knows what He is doing: Did God know the Israelis
need food in the wilderness? Can He provide what they need? What do you think?
He provided them food morning and night, each day and everyday. He did not
provide them food once for every six weeks or months. But He did provide them
every morning and evening: one day at a time. With the extreme temperature in
the wilderness, any kind of food will certainly spoil overnight.
7) Trust God, not yourself: Some of the Israelis trusted themselves more than
trusted God. They tried to collect more than what God allowed them to. Either
way, their extra collection didn’t increase their possession but turned spoiled
the next day.(18-20)
NO HILL IS TOO HIGH: Some suggestions for 2009.
1) Time to remember: One of the bad habits the
Israelis had was they never remember what God did in the past: the plagues to
humble the Pharaoh, the dividing of the Red Sea, the joy of salvation and the
gift of strong and faithful leader Moses. When they face a difficult situation,
they forgot what God had done the day before. We need to remember all the
blessings God has bestowed on us in the past and remember His love and power in
doing that. He did it before and He will do it in the future.
2) The ups and downs: No life is filled with all
the ups or downs. It alternates from one side to the other just like the
pendulum. No need to be panic when God allows us on the wrong side. He will
soon move us to the right wide. Roses are beautiful, but they won’t look as
good if there were no green leaves around them.
3) On step at a time: All great races were won
not with a few super jumps but with persistent steps: one step at a time. Great
books were written one word and one line at a time. Don’t look at the summit
and get discouraged by the seemingly insurmountable heights. Look at the small
distance you put your steps on. No hill is too high if you keep your steps
persistent and going forward. Life is very much the same way: one day at a
time.
4) Give us our daily bread: This is one of the
sentences Jesus taught His disciples in the Lord’s Prayer. He didn’t ask God to
give us bread for a week, a month or a year or many years down the road so we
may feel more safe and secured. We want to see how our future may look like. We
want to be able to know our future is secured and safe months or years ahead.
But God has His own way: he will open the window of heaven to provide us just enough
grace one day at a time. Why? Because He wants us to believe in Him, not the
bread He provides.
CONCLUSION:
1) What may our future hold? As we face the uncertainty
of our future of 2009 and all the years ahead, all we need to know is our God
has all in His hands and He will lead, provide, direct and take us through
whatever it may be. No hill is too high and no road is too long when we walk
closely with God and allow Him to hold our hands.
2) Life is made of days: If there were no days,
there won’t be years and if there were no years, there won’t be life. It is the
days that make the years and the years that make life. We need to go back to
the basic of life and that is the days. If we take good care of each day, the
year will be rich and meaningful. When the years are rich and meaningful, life
is rich and meaningful. So, give each day to God’s hand, live with His guidance
and strength and you will see all the days are in His blessing.
3) The best insurance policy: Want to be sure of 2009?
Get a good insurance policy. The best one is from God because He knows
everything that may happen in 2009, the good and the bad and everything else in
between. When your life in 2009 is in His hand, you are save.
Don’t just sit there and guessing something you don’t know and have no control.
Trust your future in the one who created days, months and years and that is
God. Today is the best day, the New Year Sunday, to put your trust and faith in
God. Just do it and you will be fine.