Give Us Today

Can you really laugh with no fear of the future?

For that to happen, we have to learn from the past so we can build a bank of faithfulness for the future, so we can have confidence in God for the moment we're in right now.

Matthew 14- Jesus had just fed the 5000 and went to a mountain to pray. He told His disciples to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and He would meet them there. Jesus didn't tell them the forecast, so when a storm came up, they operated out of fear, not faith. Jesus walked up on the storm and commanded it to cease, and it did.

Jesus knows everything and He knew He was sending them into a storm. We find this so uncomfortable and think that God doesn't send His children into storms, but He does it to strengthen our faith.

We all have storms. Some we caused, some others caused, and some God sent you into. Why?

He is testing you to see if you learned anything from the previous storm.

In Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus and His disciples were all out together in a boat when a storm came up. The disciples were scared and Jesus was sleeping. When they woke Him up for help, He just told the wind and waves to stop-and they did. The disciples were amazed.

It would be nice if they lived confidently the rest of their lives that Jesus is enough, but they don't. 7 chapters later, they are operating out of fear again.

And we do the same thing. Jesus was putting them in the same situation to see if they had learned anything from the last time; mostly, had they learned that they were journeying through life with a miracle man? Have you? Jesus was testing them and maybe He is testing you to see if you've grown in your faith.

Maybe that's why you're in a storm. No one grows in their faith on vacation. He may send you into stormy weather so you can lean back into the reality that you are doing life, not alone, but with a miracle man named Jesus.

So, how do we learn from the past and not fear the future when we don't know what's on the lake tonight? When we don't know what's ahead in the forecast?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us how to connect with God. See Matthew 5, 6, 7. But in Matthew 6:9-13, He teaches us to pray and the key phrase is "give us today". It encompasses the entire prayer. It's saying let us win today, live in peace today, reflect your grace today, lead us today, and give us what we need today.

It's living in the power of the present with the miracle man knowing that He is enough and will give you whatever you need.

This whole prayer is rooted in ancient Biblical history. It meant everything to a Jewish audience. It's referencing the exodus out of Egypt. After the 10 plagues, Pharaoh finally lets God's people go. However, God did not lead them on the shorter route because He knew that would get scared and turn back when they faced war. Instead, He leads them to the desert where they could be tested, grow a bit, be tested again, and grow some more until they would become faith over fear people. Their first test is the parting of the Red Sea and their second test is bitter water turning to fresh water.

See Exodus 13-15. The tests keep coming because they went from singing songs of praise in Exodus 15:21 to grumbling in chapter 16. They forgot their miracle-working God, just like the disciples did, and just like we do. We need to remember that we are living life with the risen Son of God.

How to live confident on the desert road:

1) They had a path in the wilderness.

They had a cloud by day and a fire by night, so they never had to wonder if they were going in the right direction.

2) They had protection.

Exodus 14:19 says that the angel of the Lord and the pillar of cloud that had been leading them from the front moved to the back to protect them.

3) They had provisions.

Quail at night and manna in the morning that lasted the whole day so that they always had sustenance. The test was only supposed to be for a season, but because of their disobedience, it lasted an entire generation.

The same can happen with us, so get back on board with the faithfulness of God and allow Him to move you forward into the season He has for you.

You can only grab enough manna for that day, otherwise it would rot. Why? Because keeping it doesn't re-enforce in you the strength to know that God is a provider for you. You can go to bed knowing there will be manna in the morning and see the glory of God.

We have to change our mindset. In the Jewish context and from Genesis, the day starts when the sun goes down to show that when you rest, God works.

When you wake up, you see what the Lord has done. We do it backward and get up, work, then rest and look to see what God has done.

This is a formula for anxiety. We are much more susceptible to anxiety and darkness at night when we are trying to rest. If we shift back to Genesis when it was evening and morning the first day, to Exodus where God delivered them in the evening, so that we can go to bed in trust and wake up to see what the Lord has done.

4) They had the Presence of God.

In Exodus 16:10, His glory was shown to them in a cloud. He was with them.

Store up the moments that He has given you. Extend your memory. Remember that Jesus is walking with you in your storms.

Jesus is our daily bread, the Bread of Life. See John 6:35. Christ is your provision and He is enough. The Bread of Heaven came down to us.