God Gives Us Daily Bread

God’s provision is enough for this day. 

Though my pastor didn’t use these exact words, the concepts solidified in this simple sentence sharpied at the top of my mirror. Like many others, my mirror has become a place where I write things I want to see daily, to internalize, to remember. And I need to remember this truth. 

As graduation approaches, I’ve been forced to accept uncertainty. “I don’t know” has become my standard answer to prompts about what I’ll do after I finish school. Often, I will even append a cheeky “but the Lord does!” Sometimes I mean it, but I’ve also realized that I can use this phrase to distance myself from follow up questions that remind me just how much I don’t know. In my discomfort with uncertainty, I can become overly focused on attempting to control the future, neglecting God’s work in the present. 

But God’s provision is enough for this day. 

The Israelites found themselves in a similar place after having crossed through the Red Sea. Pharaoh may have released them from slavery in Egypt. God may have miraculously provided a way through an uncrossable body of water. God may have rescued them from their would-have-been captors. They may have been promised a place in a rich and fruitful land. But how would they make it from the wilderness to the land? What would they drink? How would they eat? Had God freed them from slavery only to starve?

In their uncertainty, God provided manna. Bread from heaven. And this manna was meant to be gathered daily. Not smuggled and hoarded for an extra day. Because God would provide enough for each day. For this day. He set this system up as a test for Israel, as an opportunity for them to trust his provision by using up their whole supply each day in faith that he would provide for the next. In this system, he provided one notable exception: the Sabbath. Only on the sixth day could they gather more and retain for an extra day because no manna would appear on the Sabbath. But the Israelites didn’t get it. On day 1, they were attempting to save leftovers. And by the end of the first week, they were trying to gather manna for Sabbath breakfast. This cycle of manna was meant to develop a deeper, daily trust. But the Israelites’ fear of lack in the future caused them to miss God’s work in the present.

And I can be just like them. Desperate to have something solid to hold on to, I try to smuggle part of the future into the present, to force certainty into things not yet meant to be had or known. In doing so, I can miss the beauty of God’s provision in the present. In the words of my wise professor Dr. Coover-Cox, “We want bread in the freezer, but He gives us daily bread.” And fresh-baked beats the frozen section every time. While the frozen option might feel safer, God invites us to enjoy that of far better quality by trusting and depending on Him for our daily needs. 

So, my friends, take heart. God’s provision is enough for this moment, for this day. Don’t put the bread in the freezer. Savor the fresh loaf baked daily for you. 

Janae Epp

Dallas Theological Seminary, ThM Student