Provision Decision

Title here

intro…need to recap story and shorten scripture…talk about thinking you need what you have always had. Following God means sacrificing what you think you need to get what He needs you to have.

Ex 16:

Exodus 16:13–18 NIV

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’ ” The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 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.

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pray

[facebook pic of things we don’t remember]

What is it?

That is a common theme in our life isn’t it? Seems like every time a young person asks me if I have heard of something, I think to myself, “what on earth is that?”

But it isn’t just new things. Even some older stuff, when you look at it, you say the same thing. There are Facebook pages that some of my friends share that have pictures of old stuff, and it always asks if you remember what it is for. And some of those things I get in an instant. But some others, well, I am ashamed to say I just don’t have a clue.

And even when I know what it is all about, I still question it. I start thinking about how it would have been used, and I see the genius in it, but just don’t understand why you would use it.

[pic of a shoe horn]

One of my favorite examples is this. Now some of you that are younger than me might not know what this is, but it is a shoe horn. You use it to help put on your shoes.

Now, I don’t know why, but when I see that thing, the absolute last thing on my mind is that it would be useful to help put shoes on. I mean, maybe an ice cream scoop? Peanut butter spreader?

I don’t know.

[picofisraelitesandmanna]

I imagine that is about how the Israelites must have felt. Don’t get me wrong, they no doubt understood the quail, that would have been pretty normal to them, but the manna?

I mean, the text spells it our for us. “What is it?” What is that stuff that is suddenly all over the desert floor?

“It’s bread,” Moses says.

Now, I want to be real with you for a second. Had I been there, there is no telling what would have happened. You see, I can be a bit of a skeptic. If I see something that doesn’t seem to make sense, I am going to say something. And had he told me it was bread, there would have been some explaining to do, as Ricky Ricardo would say.

[picofbread]

But it is more than bread. You see, they had been screaming for food. They had been wandering and starving - even complaining that their lives were somehow now worse than they were when they were captives. And let me tell you, church, life can sometimes feel that way. Sometimes when we are doing what we think we need to be doing, we will think back to those good old days and lament about how much better things were then, whether they really were or not.

I can speak from experience here…[Army experience/talking with Paul this weekend…short]

…at some point though, I realized that what I was looking for, and what I was looking at were often different things. And if I wasn’t careful, I could find myself over-glorifying an important moment.

You see, some moments matter immensely, but they aren’t intended to become the norm. What was important to me then, won’t necessarily be important, of even useful to me now.

I had grown in those moments, and there was now more to learn in my other moments.

And that, really, is what this text speaks to. You see, God had heard their complaints, and had decided that there was something to be done. There was some provision that they needed, and He knew just what it would take to get the job done.

But understand, that job wasn’t just feeding them. That job was training them too.

God needed them to learn a lesson, the same lesson that every single person in this room, and in this world needs to learn.

The way you do anything, is the way you do everything...

[read]

It’s the truth! The way you do any task in this life is the way you will do every task in life. So if your husband/wife/gf/bf asks you to do something, and you don’t listen, it is likely that you don’t listen in other parts of your life. Maybe those times when you think that this thing your parents/boss/teacher/friends/pastor are asking you to do is stupid so you just halfway do it - look out. Because eventually, when you get used to halfway doing something, when you consistently don’t listen, or whatever it is you are doing, it will become habit.

It will become your subconscious expectation.

That doesn’t mean that it is set in stone, but church, without some intervention, you will continue to perform up to the expectations that you have cultivated in your life.

That is exactly what the Israelites are showing here. They had grown accustomed, for lack of a better word, to their lives in slavery. They had grown so accustomed to it that they had learned that no matter what they were being asked to do, it was ok, as long as they were fed.

That is what they are getting at when they grumble about how it would have been better to die there in Egypt, as a slave. At least there they had food!

But working for food, just isn’t enough when it comes to God. So God couldn’t just give them the food that they grumbled for. Likewise, when we grumble in life, God just can’t give us the thing that we have been grumbling for, and praying over. And any adult can tell you why! I mean, if you give a child everything they ask for with no guiding principles they will eventually get pretty spoiled right?

[gatheringmanna]

No God had a bigger lesson that had to be learned here. He needed them to learn to listen perfectly and obey completely. He needed them to do anything - even just gathering food - they way He needed them to do everything!

And He needs us to do that as well.

As we do life, are we living within God’s lesson plan? Are we carrying out every task to the best of our ability? As one of my favorite pieces of scripture says -

Titus 2:7–8 NIV

In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

In everything! Not just some things. EVERYTHING!

Whether you are cleaning up after someone, doing an assignment you don’t want to do for a neighbor, maybe it is yielding an opinion to save a relationship, or swallowing your pride to save your witness! Whatever it is - from leading nations to sweeping floors - you must do it in such a way as to set an example of what is good!

You must always have integrity. You must always do what is right. You must always listen to God, and follow Him.

But you must make the decision.

[johnwooden]

Perhaps the best college coach of all time, John Wooden won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years, including 7 in a row! His teams won 88 consecutive games, he was the NCAA coach of the year 6 times. He even won a national title as a player in the 30’s.

He’s kind of a big deal.

But you wouldn’t know it if you ever heard him speak. He is perfectly normal, and perfectly humble. But more than that, he loves to teach and loves young people. He dedicated his entire life to making a difference in this world by helping people to see the best way to live.

[talk about the people complaining?? definitely....they complained God gave the answer, but they needed faith to be able to live with the answer given. They needed to actually FOLLOW the rules he gave (vs 20 and 27). He gives us all that we need, but we have to do it! Every day we look to what we don’t have (vs 20) and reserve some for tomorrow…procrastinate…don’t seek justice today, don’t have mercy today, don’t give today. We don’t listen to God, or His servants. We gather more than we need? fjksld;afjdls;fjds;jflsk;a]

Part of that, he attributes to a simple verse that he learned in the 30’s. It reads -

No written word, no spoken plea can teach our youth what they should be. Nor all the books on all the shelves, it's what the teachers are themselves

[read]

It’s what you are that makes the difference. Not what you have, not even what you can or can’t do! But it is what you are that makes all the difference in your life and in this world!

That is what God is after in this moment. He needs the Israelites to make a decision; a provision decision. Are they going to submit to God’s provision in this moment, whatever that might look like, and do their best to follow Him? Are they going to use this moment to train themselves for other moments? Are they going to follow God blindly and obey completely, or are they going to sell God short and just do whatever they are feeling in that moment?

Exodus 16:20 NIV

However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

Well if you keep reading, you know the answer. Like us, sometimes, they couldn’t seem to go all in and become what God wanted them to be. They couldn’t bring themselves to actually trust the creator of the universe! They weren’t going to change their lives all the way. I mean, sure they could write down rules, and tell others to do the right thing, but them? No, they didn’t have to follow those rules! They didn’t have to be changed!

And Church, when they thought that way, when they didn’t accept what God had given them and told them to do, they didn’t get God’s best.

They got maggots.

And when we do that, we don’t get God’s best either! When we make our own Provision Decision, when we decide where our trust resides - when we start down the path God has for us, do we just accept God’s gifts and do the best with it, or do we secretly long for more and take His gifts for granted?

I think we all know the answer to that, don’t we?

But that isn’t our path, church. We are called to a life that is so much bigger than our strengths and weaknesses! It is so much bigger than our money, or friends, or positions! It is a life intended to reflect and model for this world God’s best qualities, and whether you know it or not, He always gives us what we need to do that!

John Wooden sweeping floors.

John Wooden sweeping floors.

It is sometimes hard to see though. It is hard to see, because in our society, we want to get to the finish line right away. We want to skip all those hard moments and just reap the rewards of a life lived correctly.

But life doesn’t work that way. The moments we have look more like this moment in our text. Moments when we ask ourselves “what am I doing?” Moments when we don’t understand. Moments that might even seem beneath us.

But those moments, those moments when we do the right thing, even if no one is looking, they matter more than anything. They matter because that is when we live out scriptures call for us to be a model for others.

Coach Wooden’s life can really show that to us. This man left Indiana State, where he had found much success, and made trek to UCLA. But understand, they didn’t have a program back then. In fact, they didn’t even have good facilities.

They shared a practice space with wrestling and gymnastics. It was cramped, it stunk, and it was always dirty. And for 16 years, long before their dynasty arose, there you would find Coach Wooden sweeping and mopping before every practice.

He didn’t find an excuse to leave, though he could have. He didn’t find someone else to do that menial task, though no one would blame him if he did. He did his best to be an example to others.

He knew that it is what he himself was - that is what matters - not what he was perceived to be. But if he could just do the things that he needed to do, others would follow.

And church, he’s right.

Listen if those first few Israelites saw that manna and cried out in support of God’s harvest “look, it’s bread!” we wouldn’t have this story! It only takes a couple, church! But instead, they, like us sometimes, cried out “what is it?” And grumbled, no doubt, about how they deserved more! And everyone else followed suit!

If you want to have this world be on board with God, then it is up to us to jump on board first! We have to show the example! And to do that, we have to be content with what we have been given! We have to make the decision to accept God’s provision!

God's plan doesn't always look like ours. but it is ours to take. Because we never know what God's plan looks like, we have to make the decision to do our best or ever we find ourselves. That means being a servant even when Pride tells us not too. That means adjusting our goals and desires to reflect the character of Christ. Above all that means that we listen to everyone. Even those people we might disagree with. Because like the Jewish people in the story, they might be telling us something we don't want to hear but they might be the very voice of God.

Church, God's plan doesn't always look like ours! You might want to be a rich lawyer and God might want you to be a subsistence farmer in Haiti! You might want to teach when God might want you to be an artist! You might even want to preach or to minister vocationally, and God might need you to teach in school!

Whatever His plan, church, we, we have to make the decision to do our best wherever we find ourselves! That means being a servant even when pride tells us not too. That means adjusting our goals and desires to reflect the character of Christ, not the character of our friends, or perceived values of others. Above all that means that we must listen to everyone. Even those people we might disagree with! We must show them honor, not just because God tells us to in scripture, but because like the Jewish people in the story, they might be telling us something we don't want to hear in that moment, church, but they might also be the very voice of God!

Because we never know what God's plan looks like, we have to make the decision to do our best or ever we find ourselves. That means being a servant even when Pride tells us not too. That means adjusting our goals and desires to reflect the character of Christ. Above all that means that we listen to everyone. Even those people we might disagree with. Because like the Jewish people in the story, they might be telling us something we don't want to hear but they might be the very voice of God.

[kidpic]

But you can’t do all of that if you think you are in charge or always right. If you have made the decision to trust your own provision instead of God’s you will have a hard time changing. But you can change. And it starts with remembering that you are His child.

Just think for a second. Remember when you were a kid? When you were young, you thought that your parents could and would give you anything you needed! They took complete and total care of you. If you needed something, it was there. Even if you maybe wanted something else, still you would always get content in what you had been given, because you knew they loved and cared for you.

If you just listened you were always taken care of.

Church, things don’t change. If we would just listen and look around us, and become content with what we have been given, we would see that God has taken complete care of us! If we would just start trusting that what He has given is all we need, we would see the truth, and then do our best!

Italian sermon with being a kid. These are things we just understand were children. We just know that what we have is good enough even if we want something bigger. Because when we were children we don't have so much pride and we actually trust our parents. And as Christians we need to understand that we profess with our mouths that we trust God that our actions show that we don't.

[childpraying/communion]

Daisy is learning the prayer, that she wants to say before meals. You know the one, I’m sure.

Daisy is learning the prayer. You know the one.

She prays very nicely off the cuff, but she really wants to learn the prayer that they say at Calvary Kids.

God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. By His hand, we all are fed. Give us, Lord, our daily bread.

Such a simple prayer. And what a perfect reminder. Church, that little prayer, is just about all we need, even though it isn’t all we want. It is such a great reminder of our situation! BY HIS HAND, WE ARE FED, CHURCH! BY HIS HAND WE WOKE UP THIS MORNING! BY HIS HAND WE HAVE LIFE! BY HIS HAND WE HAVE FOOD, AND CLOTHES, AND A HOME! AND BY HIS HAND, CHURCH, WE HAVE BEEN SAVED, AND HAVE AN ETERNAL HOME WITH HIM!

Not our own, though. It is only by Him that we have anything.

Close with story about Daisy learning the prayer. Just a cute little Side Story to set up the idea that by his hand we are fed. By his hand we live. By his hand we are able to experience life. And by his hand we are saved. Segue immediately to communion.

And because of that, we must do our best. We must be the example of sacrifice and life to this world. When everyone else is yelling, “What is it?” When they don’t understand how you give without thought of repayment. Or sacrifice your wants for God’s plan. Or give you time and energy to those in need. When the world screams at you “Why?” You just keep sweeping those floors. You just stay on God’s path.

Be confident in your provision decision. After all; God alone is our cup and our portion, church.

Communion

Invitation.