e-vo for week of March 10

Dearest e-votees-

I hope and trust that your Lent is going well. We are more than halfway done with this time of focus and discipline and preparation. Let us pray that Holy Week would be indeed that.

Peace,
Karl

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9 The Lord said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt." And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. 10 While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. 11 On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

Joshua 5:9-12, NRSV

God provides for us all in stunning and miraculous ways. Some we know about. Some to which we will always be oblivious.

Manna was the daily food that was provided as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Every night the dew would settle and lift. Left behind was a white flaky stuff that tasted like coriander. This food sustained the people for years. It would go bad after a day so people would have to get their bread daily (or two days worth when Sabbath time rolled around). This provision was remarkable and holy and nothing short of fantastically miraculous.

But the time came when the miraculous was no longer needed. The people were able to work and till the land and so the manna train stopped running its route.

What ways are you aware that God has provided for you that are miraculous and extraordinary? Imagine how many you might not even know. God’s miraculous provision is much like the proverbial iceberg with only the smallest portion readily apparent.

Perhaps you are coming to a time when God is going to withdraw some of the more miraculous support and let you do what you have been training to do. Are you ready to live in the plains of Jericho? Are you ready to feast on the crops of Canaan?

Perhaps God would use you to provide extraordinary and seemingly “miraculous” support for another. Would you dare let God use you that way?

God, give us this day our daily bread. Help us be thankful for it no matter if it was left in the wake of heaven sent dew or purchased at the local store. Help us always set another place at the table for those who might be in need. Prepare us for Holy Week. Amen.