“So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34 AMP
“He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches). To him who overcomes (conquers), I will give to eat of the manna that is hidden, and I will give him a white stone with a new name engraved on the stone, which no one knows or understands except he who receives it.” Revelation 2:17 AMP
I am going to be completely vulnerable with you today as I share this message from the heart. I understand that we all struggle with anxiousness and worry at times. When things don’t look like they are going to work out or when obstacles appear out of nowhere and look like they are blocking us from proceeding on the path God has prepared for us; it is easy to succumb to anxiety and worry. I have just walked through a season where I have to admit I felt the sting of anxiety and worry. I am not completely out of this season because things in my life still appear to be shaky, but I have drawn strength from these verses and they have helped me keep my feet solidly planted on the Word of God as my source, my provision, my protection, and my shield.
During this season I have come to understand that the devil only wins in this area when we give up and give in to the anxiety and worry, but he remains in a submissive stance of defeat when we deny him the right to rule our hearts and minds. Like the children of Israel we are discovering what it means to have our daily manna provided for us by the Lord, and what it means to trust and rely on Him to be faithful. Each day we wake up to the manna God is providing for us and each day we eat of it. But unlike the children of Israel we do not have our eyes fixed on the physical manna as our source of nourishment. The daily manna was for them and is for us, a means to an end and that end is living in abundance, in the Promised Land.
It was never God’s intention for them or for any of us to only live on the daily manna for a lifetime. It was His provided provision for a season of transition. But if our vision of this truth is limited due to anxiousness and worry we will not be able to believe Him for the greater source of manna, the hidden manna; which is set aside for those who overcome and conquer. Our minds will be filled with images of a depleting supply of manna which will lead us to wonder if God is even going to show up tomorrow and provide it once again. We become weak in our faith and begin to grumble against God, and we turn our eyes back towards Egypt and ask God to take us back to the place that was familiar and comfortable.
In order for us to overcome in this area two things have to happen in our hearts and minds. First we have to believe by faith that what God has promised, He will perform, and secondly we have to believe that we are the inheritors of that promise. If we doubt these truths we set ourselves up to give in to the temptation to be anxious and worrisome when things don’t look like they are working out or when obstacles appear in our path. We have to understand that the moment we said yes to a relationship with Jesus Christ we were given a new name and that name has an irrevocable promise attached to it, which is the promise of an abundant life in heaven and on earth because of the shed blood of Jesus at the Cross!
We are no longer wandering in the desert of transition trying to please God by our works of righteousness in order to enter the Promised Land of abundance. We are under the New Covenant where we are the righteousness of God and it is our faith in this truth that pleases Him. The desert places of transition are no longer a proving ground of our obedience and belief; they are God’s proving ground of His faithfulness and provision. And when we understand this and believe it, He gives us the hidden manna, which is the revelation of Himself manifested in the resurrected power of Jesus working in and through us to provide for our physical, emotional, mental, relational, and spiritual needs.
Jesus Christ alone is our source of help in our times of trouble. Jesus Christ alone is our source of hope in our times of doubt. Jesus Christ alone is our source of peace in times of worry and anxiousness. Jesus Christ alone is our daily bread! There is no other source that can satisfy. So what we are learning and I hope you will learn too is that all are needs are met in Him and all abundance in the Promised Land in heaven and on earth is ours! It is no longer a matter of if we will receive it. It is only a matter of time and as we wait on Him in our times of transition He is faithful to provide for us each day!
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