graphic: Martha G. Brady

Click this link for the other days in the 31 DAYS OF CARE TAKING: ONE DAY AT A TIME.

As I was writing yesterday and thinking about the concept of one day at a time, I was reminded of manna. Do you know what the word meant? It meant what is it? It didn’t look like anything the Israelites had seen up to that point. It didn’t quite taste like anything they were used to either. It arrived with the dew at the start of the day. It tasted like coriander seed. There were evidently a number of ways to fix it. But over that 40 year period, the fact is, the people ate manna every single day. It wasn’t fancy, but it kept them alive as they wandered in the desert.

They were supposed to collect only a day’s supply at a time…with one exception. On the day before the Sabbath, they were able to collect two days’ supply. That was the only time they were allowed to do it. If they did it on any other day, the Manna rotted and got wormy.

It was GOD’s way of providing their needs, but only a day at a time. GOD’s people were supposed to trust him one day at a time for their needs.

Could anything be more foreign to the American culture?

Is there a concept any more foreign to us as Americans? I don’t think so. We love to plan ahead. We love to shore up our plan A’s, B’s and C’s! The result is that unless we are put in a position where we HAVE to trust GOD in certain areas, we don’t naturally do it. We are too busy working on our own plans and solutions.

How sad for us. We miss out on a closer relationship with GOD and a closer relationship with others as well because our minds are too preoccupied with our many plans and schemes…instead of trusting GOD to meet our needs each day.

How does this apply to us as caretakers? If we think too far into the future, we can get disheartened. We can try to think of the potential problems that could come up and wonder if we will have the resources to handle them three months or six months from now. But that may be a total waste of time. The problems we foresee may not happen, or may not happen in the ways we anticipate. We do better in these cases, to take our situation one day at a time.

Yes, we need to plan ahead in terms of insurance and planning for the best medical care we can. But after that, we need to take it one day at a time in terms of the situation we are dealing with. GOD will meet us where we are. He will provide for us as we need it. He will provide the strength we need as we need it.

As we trust Him one day at a time, we develop a relationship with Him that brings stability, joy, trust, and rest that would not normally be present. It’s not because of us. It is because of the One in whom we trust. He has proved to be an eternally trustworthy GOD. One who has immense resources available for us.

The key is to ask Him. We need to ask Him for what we need. Sometimes, we aren’t even sure what we need. We can tell Him that as well. He knows better than we do anyway! It’s a conversation all during the day, not just something we say once a day at a special time.

Of course, asking means we are in need. This presents us with another issue. We must admit that we are desperately in need of Him and his intervention in our lives. That is where it all begins. That is where it continues each day! GOD, without you, this day will not work. I ask for you to be involved in each part of it from beginning to end! Thank you Lord Jesus.

…lest, when you have eaten and are full and
have built good houses and live in them, 
and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied
and all that you have is multiplied, 
then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 
who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness,
with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground
where there was no water,
who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 
who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know,
that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.
Beware lest you say in your heart,
‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 

Deuteronomy 8: 11-12,17 ESV

His divine power has granted to us all things
that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him who called us
to his own glory and excellence…

II Peter 1:3