GOD’S BEST FOR YOU

“Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.” (Joshua 5:12 NKJV)

 

The most prolonged miracle recorded in the Bible is the daily rain of manna in the wilderness for forty years to sustain the children of Israel in the wilderness while they were journeying to the Promised Land.

 

Moses records that “the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.” (Exo. 16:35 NKJV).

 

God didn’t intend for the children of Israel to live on the “miracle-food” (manna) all the days of their lives. The manna was only meant to be temporary sustenance for them in their time of crisis.

 

Similarly, in our times of crisis, God will gladly give us the miracles we need to deliver us or sustain us temporarily, but He does not intend for us or expect us to live on miracles for the rest of our lives.

 

God’s best for His children is not temporary miracles but eternal blessings in Christ. Sadly, many believers today are only seeking for and living on miracles rather than seeking to know how to appropriate and enjoy their eternal blessings in Christ.

 

Although the daily rain of “the miracle food” (manna) was an incredible display of God’s glory, goodness, and greatness, yet there were some limitations to it (Exo. 16:7-8).

 

Let us consider some of these limitations.

 

First, there was a time restriction to the collection of manna:

 

The manna was given only in the morning and can only be gathered in the morning. Anyone who fails to go out in the morning to pick his portion of the manna will find nothing later.

 

Exodus 16:21 – NKJV

21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

 

Likewise, miracles are time-sensitive. If you miss your time of a miracle, you may never have it again, or you may have to wait for a long time for another time of divine visitation. The Lord Jesus Christ wept over Jerusalem because she missed her time of divine visitation, and yet she didn’t know it (Luke 19:41-44).

 

Second, the collection of manna was a daily exercise because it could not be preserved till the next day except for the Sabbath day:

 

Exodus 16:19-21 – NKJV

 19 And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.”

 20 Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

 21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

 

But when the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, they ate the produce or food of the land whenever they wanted and could also preserve it as long as they wanted.

 

God’s ultimate desire and plan for His children is not to constantly seek for or live on miracles but to consistently and continuously enjoy or walk in His blessings.

 

Unlike miracles, God’s blessings are generational. You can pass down God’s blessing to your children and your great-grandchildren like the Patriarchs of old did.

 

Third, the daily gathering of manna was according to need:

 

The people were not permitted to gather the manna beyond their daily and specific needs.

 

Exodus 16:16 – NKJV

16 This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.

 

Those who attempted to gather much more than the measure specified eventually had nothing left over.

 

Exodus 16:18 – NKJV

18 So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.

 

Miracles are always just enough to meet your specific need or bring you out of a particular crisis. Afterward, you will still need another miracle or even more miracles to survive. This is why a miracle is not God’s best for you.

 

God delights in blessing you with abundance so that you can have much more than enough for you and your household’s needs and then become a blessing to others (Gen 12:1-3, 1 Chron. 29:16).

 

Paul clearly states this truth.

 

2 Corinthians 9:8 – NKJV

 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

 

Beloved, God’s best for you is His blessings and not occasional miracles. To have God’s blessing is infinitely bigger and better than having some miracles.

 

While miracles are the fantastic, spectacular, and supernatural display of God’s glory and power, yet God does not intend for you to live on miracles daily.

 

The chief purpose of the finished work of Christ is not for you to receive, experience, or enjoy some occasional and temporary miracles in times of crises, but to make you a joint-heir of God’s blessing with Christ and thus walk in God’s blessing every day of your life.

 

Paul aptly states and explains this truth.

 

Romans 8:15-17 – NKJV

 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

 17 and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

 

Galatians 3:13-14 – NKJV

 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),

 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

 

Galatians 4:4-7 – NKJV

 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

 

Beloved, in Christ Jesus, you are already blessed with every spiritual blessing.

 

Ephesians 1:3 – NKJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

 

2 Peter 1:2-3 – NKJV

 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.

 

Therefore, stop running from one prayer meeting to another or from one prophet to another, seeking for some miracles; instead, settle down to prayerfully and diligently search and study God’s Word to know, understand, and appropriate the things that have been freely given to you by God in Christ.

 

Friend, while miracles can deliver you from crises, blessings will keep you from crises!

 

As seen in the case of the manna (the miracle food) the children of Israel received for forty years, miracles can hardly satisfy; they are barely enough, they might not endure, and they cannot be passed down from one generation to another.

 

That is why God has given you something far better, bigger, greater, more satisfying, enduring, or generational in Christ.

 

The Bible refers to it as “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3 NKJV).

 

Don’t settle for anything less than God’s best for you in Christ! 

 

 

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for blessing me with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Dear Holy Spirit, help and teach me how to appropriate, receive and enjoy all the good things that God has freely given to me in Christ, in Jesus’ name. Amen.