The Lord Sustains
John 4:32, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
Our food is our sustenance; that which sustains us. We all go through seasons of life when we really can’t sustain ourselves: a major surgery, loss of a loved one, fighting within a family, depression. The list could go on and on. It’s in these seasons that the Lord gently reminds us of the food that we know nothing about. He sustains us, when we don’t have the strength to do it ourselves.
While the Hebrew people were wandering in the desert, the Lord miraculously provided both food and water for them. They were worried. They grumbled and complained. They thought they would starve or die of thirst. But, the Lord had food that they didn’t know about.
Exodus 16:4, Then the Lord said to Moses, I will rain down bread from heaven for you…
Exodus 17:6, Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink…
Later on, the prophet Elijah teaches us this truth. After having just announced that a great drought would be coming upon the people, he had to be wondering how he would find enough sustenance to stay alive. But, the Lord had food that even Elijah didn’t know about. The Lord sends him to Kerith Ravine, where He feeds him by using ravens.
Sometimes it isn’t until we look back that we realize how God fed us, kept us, sustained us, through some of the toughest “droughts” of our life. He teaches us over and over again – “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
And sometimes I think that’s the point. When things are going well all of the time, we tend to forget about Him. We get a little lax in our relationship. Difficulties are a strong reminder that even in the good times it’s the Lord that sustains us – and we don’t even know where He gets the food. We have to learn to be okay with the mystery, and to simply keep trusting Him.
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