Jeff Adams

Imagine the dilemma of a people tough enough to hold together through 400 years of oppression, yet beat down enough to loose their confidence and self-worth, caught in the limbo of tough-minded failure. This is the story of Israel. Things continued to migrate from bad to worse, and even when a young Moses dared to kill an Egyptian who was abusing one of his Hebrew brethren, his own people lashed out against him.

It’s hard to find motivation to rescue a people who don’t want to be rescued and resist attempts to do so. But such is God’s love that he continued to stalk Moses through 40 lonely years of caring for his father-in-law’s flocks until he deemed that it was finally time to send him back into Egypt to bring out the Hebrews.

Israel had barely passed beyond the city limit signs when the sight of dust rising from the hoofs of the horses pulling Pharaoh’s chariots spooked them into complaining that they should have just died in Egypt. This was the first in a long series of complaining and gripping that eventually led to a led to a generation stalled in the desert wilderness until they died.

Yet, despite the fact that Israel developed the nasty habit of slamming God’s grace right back in his face, God never stopped loving them, never stopped extending to them his grace and never canceled his promise and plan to lead them to the land he had promised their ancestors. In fact, so great was God’s love that every single day he worked a miracle to feed them. The only way for two million people to survive in the hostile desert was for God to cause white, wafer-like cakes to appear with the morning dew.

“What is it?” the people declared, astonished at discovering this “divine energy/protein bar” that was to supply their dietary needs. The Hebrew word for that question is manna, and from that point forward became the brand name of whatever “it” was. Psalm 78 calls it the food of angels (or nobles). I don’t really know what that means, don’t have the nutritional information or the recipe to bake it, but I do know this — God was working a daily miracle to feed those Hebrews in the wilderness.

Consider. God worked a miracle each day to provide the manna. Did this make Israel any more spiritually inclined? Did this even stop their constant complaining and gripping or even have an effect on their stubborn, rebellious nature? No. They may have complained about the limited menu options, but as far as I know no one refused to eat the manna when they got hungry.

Even today, there are those who go by the name “Christian” who simply have to live a miracle-a-day. I am not one who denies that God can work miracles, nor do I pretend to dictate to him what he can and cannot do. I have experienced the miraculous and have removed my shoes. But, I have never become accustomed to the miraculous, nor do I want to.

Don’t judge me harshly, but I do not want to become dependent upon miracles. I want to become dependent upon God, and I want to live according to his plan for my life. I think there is a difference. I have taken drugs from time to time as needed, but only as prescribed for me by my physician. I have had friends who have become dependent upon drugs … and other substances and things. I worship God, not what he does, even when it is miraculous.

The day the Manna stopped

And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. Joshua 5:10-12

Think of it! For forty years the same food. They had grown accustomed to it, depended on it and raised children who knew nothing else. Now it was gone forever. No more daily miracle.

What happened? They had crossed over River Jordan into the promised land. They took a step of faith into maturity, and maturity was not a daily dose of miracles, but a constant life of faith, grace and dependency upon God. On the other side of the river, the people of Israel learned to feed themselves.

You can go to one of those churches with a nightly miracle service or ride the wave of the latest “revival” rolling out of Florida, yet still be a person of dubious and weak character, flawed social skills and lose your marriage and family. Happens every day. I am coming to the conclusion that the miracle-a-day syndrome is symptomatic of a dependency addiction on the level of heroin.

Getting off the welfare list

Israel learned a new dimension of dependency. Maturity is dependency on God that results in personal responsibility. Daily miracles that we begin to take for granted are for the weak and addicted.The same mentality of someone who thinks government, the church or society in general owes them a living is identical to the one that thinks that God owes us a living – or a miracle. God doesn’t owe us a cent. It is by his mercies that we are not consumed by the fire of his holiness. By his grace he miraculously supplies our every need while teaching us to provide for ourselves and our families.

Barack Obama actually did a good job of communicatign this truth today at the NAACP convention in Cincinnatti. Here’s an excerpt.

“I know there are some who’ve been saying I’ve been too tough, talking about responsibility,” he said. “NAACP, I’m here to report I’m not going to stop talking about it.”

Some analysts have suggested Jackson’s gaffe may help Obama appeal to more white conservative voters who might view criticism from the longtime civil rights leader as a badge of honor.

In his speech, Obama stressed that government alone can’t keep gangs off the streets and children in school.

“No matter how much money we invest in our communities, how many 10-point plans we propose, how many government programs we launch, none of it will make a difference — at least not enough of a difference—if we also at the same time don’t seize more responsibility in our own lives,” he said.

Obama may have ruffled the feathers of a few NAACP leaders, but he should have ruffled the feathers of us all, regardless of our color or ethnicity. This is not a Black problem; it is a human problem. We must stop looking for a handout, for a program to rescue us, get us out of debt, or take care of us. We must learn to be responsible as we walk by faith in the grace of God.