GO

"Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God our Father." 

James 1:17 (NLT)

Let me tell you 2 stories.  Well, essentially, they are the same story.

Story #1

A long time ago, the Israelites were being led out of Egypt by Moses.  They were in the wilderness between Elim and Mount Sinai and they were hungry.

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Look, I'm going to rain down food from heaven for you.  Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day.  I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.'"

To make a longish story shortish, when they first saw the food that God had sent them, they had no idea what it was or what to do with it.  They had to be told that this was the food that God was providing for them.  So some did as they were told and went out and gathered up just as much as they needed and 'when they measured it out, everyone had just enough.  Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over and those who gathered only a little had enough.'  Whatever wasn't gathered up that day disappeared from the ground.  Morning by morning, the people were able to gather up the food that God provided and have just what they needed.

Exodus 16

Story #2

Not so long ago, there were these two guys, Mike and Sam, who decided they wanted to live the life of a homeless person for 5 months.  (There's a lot more to this story but that's pretty much all you need to know for this story to make sense).

Mike and Sam were in San Francisco and they were hungry.

A man walked by them with a box of leftover pizza and Mike shouted out and asked him if he was going to finish it.  The man looked at the box then back at Mike and Sam and said, "No" and he gave them the box.  Mike and Sam had the pleasure of finishing off half a pepperoni pizza.  And it was just what they needed.

Under the Overpass - Mike Yankoski

It's easy to see how these two stories are similar - some people were hungry so God gave them some food.  But the author of Under the Overpass, Mike, takes it one step further:

After they had finished eating the leftover pizza, Mike said to Sam,

"What do you think would have happened if the Israelites hadn't gone out and picked up the manna God sent?  I mean, don't you think they would have starved if they never actually went out and picked the manna off the ground?"

When I read this, I had to reread it a few times for it to sink in a bit.  After some sinking in time, I began to see it more and more in my own life.  When I got home from England, an opportunity literally fell into my hands.  What an opportunity that was.  When it was over, I didn't know what to do next.  I'll be honest, for a while, I was just waiting for someone else to offer me something.  Well, it doesn't always work like that.  Sometimes it does.  But sometimes, well more often than not, opportunities present themselves in ways that I may not recognize.  Just like the Israelites, at first glance, I may not recognize what or how God is providing, how He is working.  But that's just it, He is still providing, still working.  I just need to go pick it up.

"God answered our prayers for provision, but we still had to ask these guys for it.  We still had to 'pick up the manna.'"

Here is the point of me telling you these 2 stories - the message is the same now as it was then.  God continues to provide exactly what we need when we need it.  We just have to go out and get it.

These two stories have been such a challenge and such an encouragement for me recently.  It's given me a new perspective on things.  It helps me to have that attitude of going out and picking up whatever God throws down - church, jobs, volunteer work, the next steps.  Sometimes it's good, other times it may not be so good and that's ok.  The point is simply to go out knowing and trusting that God knows what He is doing.  He knows what I'm thinking and feeling, He knows my worries and doubts and He sees when I go out.  "You go before me and follow me.  You place your hand of blessing on my head." Psalm 139:5 (NLT)  Everyday, EVERY day, God is providing, God is showing His love and it is there for the taking.

"I wonder how much we miss because we're unwilling to pick it up."

God is providing.

Don't miss it.

Go pick it up.

Go.