Bread from Heaven

I am so thankful God knows all of my needs better than I do and has the resources of all heaven at His disposal!

Life unfolds one need at a time. Challenges may leave us feeling like we want to run for our lives or give up. Sometimes even the greatest become weary. Elijah did. He was being pursued by evil Jezebel. I Kings 19: 3 says “he arose and ran for his life.” Collapsing under a broom tree, “he prayed he might die.” Few of us can relate to Elijah’s circumstances, but we have times of weariness and discouragement.

As Elijah lay under the tree, “suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, ‘Arise and eat.’” He looked up to see “a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water.” Asleep again in exhaustion, the angel awoke him, touched him, and said “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” He went in that strength forty days and nights, I Kings 19: 5-8.

I remember a time when God provided bread from heaven for me. We had been traveling in a new ministry role and had stopped receiving our pastoral salary. Weary & overwhelmed, we were facing multiple expenses, and we were eager to reach our field. We knew that “the journey [was] too great for [us].”

The morning after we returned from a ministry, our 4 year old went to the dentist for an expensive visit. We had set aside money to pay for it. In my quiet time that morning, I asked God to provide a way for us to cover the cost and to help me give Him the burdens of the day. They seemed like small concerns, relative to the needs of the world, but they weighed on my weary “mother” mind that morning.

As the dentist welcomed us and chatted, I explained our impending departure overseas and the timetable.I learned he was a believer who had a global interest in God’s program.He moved on to “matters of the mouth,” and then explained the procedures needed.My stomach felt heavy.“This sounds very costly.Can you give me a ball park figure of what we can plan for?”I asked.“I’m not going to charge you,” he replied.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “I don’t think I understood you.For what?”

“For anything,” he said.“It’s my privilege to use my resources & abilities as an offering to the Lord.I won’t charge you anything for my services.”

I felt my eyes sting with tears as I was reminded that our heavenly Father knows our circumstances better than we know ourselves.I wanted to lie under Elijah’s broom tree, but God wanted me to wake up and partake of “bread from heaven.”He provided above and beyond what I could think.I was so blessed as we left and shared with Jacob how God met our need.It didn’t even bother me when I realized I locked the keys in the car!

On our way home, we went to exchange new shoes that had been paid for by a friend.The clerk said she would like to give us a discount and a special coupon on top of it!

“And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, ‘Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you’” I Kings 19:7.

Bread from heaven, a second time.

When we are weary and seek refuge in Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, we get “bread from heaven.” It’s no wonder, then, that Elijah “went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights…” God’s provisions give us strength for what He asks of us, for the challenges of life, one need at a time.

Are you feeling weary or discouraged on this Monday? Just want to lay under a broom tree and give up? Your Heavenly Father knows you and your needs and wants to provide Bread from Heaven for you, His beloved. Need some more convincing? Click here to read New Testament words about your generous God who Has bread and more to give.

If you’re under the broom tree today, I would love to pray with you about your need and then Give Thanks with you as He meets it!