Dear BFF,
What is it?
That thing you imagine for yourself? The one you’re convinced will satisfy every desire, silence every prayer, and finally let you rest?
Money? Fame? Power? What is it?
For me, it has almost always been career-related. Tied to my rise up the corporate ladder and my level of financial stability. For years I daydreamed about my whens:
When I would land a global role.
When I would cross a certain salary threshold.
When I would live a certain kind of life.
Yet today, multiple answered prayers later, I still find myself forgetting that I don’t control a single thing about this journey. My fortune has never been the work of my own hands– but a product of something else entirely.
Manna.
This is the story.
Two months after the children of Israel had left Egypt, they were angry, hungry and feeling very ungrateful. They spoke among themselves and wondered why God would chase them away from their lamb stews and abundance of bread, to trek in the wilderness with nothing to eat.
Their greatest desire at the time was to eat some bread- so God said fine. I will send you bread, and I will give you instructions to obey.
He told Moses the rules of engagement. When the bread came, they could gather only what they needed for that day. No taking more than necessary, no stuffing their bags for tomorrow. And on the sixth day, they would receive double a day’s portion so they could rest on the Sabbath.
Then God, knowing the people were expecting bread, something he could have so easily provided, decided to blow their minds by sending them something else entirely. Something technically impossible.
He sent them fine flakes frosted on the ground that looked like white coriander seeds and tasted like a cracker with honey. They had never seen such a thing and so they said among themselves “Manna hu?” meaning “What is it?”.
That's how Manna came about. The bread from heaven that fed the Israelites for 40 years until they reached the promised land. Provided every morning by God, with a double portion the day before the Sabbath.
Did the Israelites initially follow all the rules? No. Did they take more than they needed? Yes. Did they keep some in their bags? Absolutely. They were human afterall.
But when they measured, the excess became just what they needed. And the flakes they kept in their bags turned to worms the next morning. Until eventually, they followed the guidance of God because they saw that he alone had the capacity to provide their food and satisfy their needs. And the food he provided was not the bread they imagined, or anything their ancestors had ever seen.
It was better. It was Manna.
And I eat it daily.
On the days that I have asked God for more, He has given me things I didn’t even know how to name. And his rules of engagement are simple. Trust me. Let me lead you. Let me give you peace.
But I'm human too.
So some days I feel a stirring of anxiety and have to go back to the rule book. And some days I am tempted to take the wrong step until I remember who guides my path.
And when challenges come, I experience peace over chaos, because my fortune is not the work of my own hands- but a product of something else entirely.
Manna from heaven.
Enough for 40 years, 40 decades and 40 generations.
Safe landing,
Kanyinsola
