This week we have moved on to look at the time when God provided for the people of Israel in the desert.
The story is set after they have been miraculously saved from the slavery in Egypt, walked through the Red Sea and seen their enemies defeated.
Yet a short time later they seem to have forgotten all of this and are beginning to turn on Moses, even suggesting that they were better off as slaves!
The problem with such situations is that the tendency is to focus on the now. The people were hungry, they needed food, what was God doing? The fact that God had been faithful to every promise He had given them to date, doesn't seem to have effected their current state, simply because that was then and this is now and the now is very real and very present.
Yet Jesus challenges us not to worry, not to be overwhelmed by the present circumstances. Instead to be confident that God is with us and that He will continue to be faithful to His promises. It's all about letting the past impact on the now and the future.
Maybe that's why Paul, writing in Hebrews, reminds us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Faith is challenging at times, sometimes it feels like walking in the dark, sometimes the way ahead isn't clear. The people were hungry - where was the food going to come from?
The manna and the quail came, the people were fed and God was once again faithful to His promise.
Looking at all the challenges we face as a school it's easy to become too focused on the now, but I am continually reminded that God has the bigger picture, that He has brought us this far and He will be faithful to what it is that He is calling us to in the future.
The manna and the quail will come, in what ever form God sees as best.
