Can you smell something? - by Bec Bonython

Have you ever had that experience where you’re going about your normal day and you smell something or see something, and it takes you back to THAT moment! Immediately, we can be transported back in time and recollect in minute detail how we felt or reacted. It can conjure up memories about someone or an event. You may have not thought about that experience for years, but it was the smell or picture which triggered your brain to recollect.

There’s a little passage in Exodus 16:32-34 which I think is important for us today, just as much as it was for the Children of Israel thousands of years ago.

Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.” 33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna in front of the Testimony, that it might be kept.

After 75 days, the Children of Israel had started grumbling about their life in the desert. Had they already forgotten what life was like making bricks with no straw? Had they already forgotten about the whips and the slave drivers? Had they also forgotten the Red Sea?… so soon.

God knows us so well! He knows we forget things. He knows we even forget the amazing things He has done for us!  So, God wanted something that the Israelites could see as a reminder, as a trigger, which would transport them back to THAT moment, and would provide a story for the generations to come.

Through that omer of manna that Aaron was told to place in a jar in front of the Testimony, God wanted to remind them (and us today):

·        That He heard their cry. He was aware of their grumbling and He knew their situation.

·        Of His unfailing faithfulness. That they had to trust Him every day. The measurement of omer of manna was exactly the amount they needed to collect every day, per person, per tent (Ex 16:16). If they stockpiled, it would go mouldy, so each evening they would have to go to bed trusting God for tomorrow.

·        That He didn’t take them out of the desert (day 75 of 14,600), but that He provided for them in the midst of the challenge of the desert. God will always give us courage, patience, endurance and wisdom to meet our own desert challenges.

Can I strongly encourage you to do something that will make you remember those moments where God has done a miracle in your life. Those moments where God has token your hand and brought you through. Those moments where God has changed the course of your life. Those moments where God has freed you or brought hope and comfort in the midst of a difficult situation.

Maybe you need to write them down or take a photo or record it or highlight that scripture verse.  Whatever it is, do something to make sure that the memory will last so that you can tell your children and your grandchildren of the amazing things God has done in your life!