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A Life Lesson from Oozing White Stuff in a Freezer in the Church Kitchen

Checking up on some popsicles in the freezer in the kitchen, Bonnie Ritchie and Tina Pollock experienced quite a surprise.  They opened the freezer door only to be greeted by a massive blob of white substance slowly oozing out of a box of once frozen bread dough.  After quickly shutting the door, they told Bro. Matt who in turn encouraged everyone to get in on the oozing bread dough by saying, “You gotta see what’s going on in the kitchen!”

            We eventually discovered that the freezer’s breaker had flipped during the storm, thus ruining all the food inside the freezer.  Sixty-degrees in the freezer transformed the frozen bread into an oozing, growing white blob of mushy, malleable muck.  We figured pulling this bread out of the freezer grill would be a meaningful ministry experience for our summer ministry intern, Josh Smith.  Cleaning oozing bread dough for the Kingdom….sounds meaningful enough, right?

            The Bible says a lot about bread.  When the children of Israel were taking their 40-year hike through wilderness they came to the Desert of Sin (Exodus 16).  They hadn’t made it past the first rest stop, when someone piped up— 

“Hey, Moses, I’m staaarrving!  When are we going to eat?”

“Is that your stomach? Or, is your camel growling?”
”I’m so hungry….ugh! I’m going to die if I don’t get a pot of chili?”

“Moses, did you bring us out here to starve or what? We need some snacks!”

Food is one of the best topics for complaining, but when your hungry, really hungry, even a saltine cracker or a carrot stick can be delicious.  God listened to the people and sent quail every evening and every morning, He sent a thin, wafer bread-like substance called manna.   God sent just enough manna for that day.  They were to gather just what they needed for that day, not make a run to the Supercenter and try to stock up the freezer or fill the ice chest for the road trip.  They were supposed to gather just enough manna for their family for that day.  Some tried to fill a few grocery bags and sock it away for a snack, but God’s expiration date was at the end of that day.  If they tried to store it up, it just turned to nasty maggots and began to smell.  How could something so sweet turn into something so disgusting?

The first few days went well.  Roasting quail over the fire in the evenings, dipping quail hot wings in a little Head Country or honey mustard.  (I may have misinterpreted that just a little bit.)  In the mornings, all the sweet little families would gather their manna to make bamanna bread, manna waffles, manna French toast, manna crackers, manna this, manna that, manna all the time, manna every day, manna, manna….manna!  manna!  Enough with the mannnnnnnaa! 

That’s exactly what happened.  The people got fed up with God’s provision.  God met their need in response to their grumbling, but He was trying to teach them something—be grateful to God, and depend on Him not for tomorrow, or yesterday, but for today.  Today is all you’ve got.  And all you’ve got today is what God has given you for today. That which He has given you is just what you need, so enjoy it and be grateful.            

Category : Tommy Talk