"One Way" Manna

In her Bible study One in a Million: Journey to Your Promised Landauthor and speaker Priscilla Shirer points out that a dramatic change in diet accompanied the Israelite's exodus from Egypt. She writes, "The days of plentiful and varied diets were gone. God whittled the menu down to one dish."

As I read this several months ago, I thought of our sexuality and how God's way to sex is like "One way" manna: sexual satisfaction only within the confines of the marriage bed. This past week I pondered this again and sensed there is someone out there right now needing encouragement on their journey out of Egypt in the area of sex. Perhaps you are the one this is for.

Sexual addictions and illicit gratification outside of marriage provide...well, gratification. That is what makes it so powerful. When God leads us out of bondage from sexual addiction or misuse and calls us to freedom in Christ, He gives us one and only one option for sexual satisfaction. For someone accustomed to the spices of Egypt, this can be agonizing, especially when you are craving physical release.

If you are there right now, I want to say that you are walking a road many of us have traveled. You are not alone. There IS a promised land waiting for you and the journey to it will NOT last forever! Keep pressing on!

Perhaps it would be helpful to know a bit of why God would require this path for us and how He wants us to walk it out.

WHY: There are several reasons, one of which is that the wilderness is a time of de-tox. Although at times it feels like it's just gon' kill us, it actually won't. We are in fact starving the old addictions in order to dine on Jesus. Our bodies, minds, and "taste buds" are being re-programmed. Hard as it may seem, that is a good thing!

One of the most important lessons we learn in the wilderness between Egypt and the promised land is found in Deuteronomy 8:3:

"He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

There are times when our flesh craves satisfaction. This happens in numerous areas, not just sexually. It is at the point of "hunger" that we are driven to understand where true satisfaction comes from: the Word of God and Jesus as the Bread. God wants us to learn a new response when our hunger is triggered: SEEK JESUS!

This lesson is crucial to our enjoyment of the bounty that lies ahead of us, because we can become enslaved in our promised land as well! The Israelites forgot God and served foreign nations on the very land that God intended them to run free on.

When we understand that God is breaking all bonds and establishing us in Him so that we have sense enough never to become entangled again, we can avoid floundering in the wilderness.

HOW: So how can we best move forward if we are in between Egypt and our promised land? One word: daily. The Israelites were instructed to go out and gather their manna each morning (except for the Sabbath). In the Lord's prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread."

We need not worry about how we are going to live the rest of our lives like this, or even how we will make it to the end of the week. Take it one day at a time. Focus on the provision He has given you today, right now. And give thanks for it. Soon, He will say it is time to cross over and take possession of those promises!

The wilderness can be a time when we become convinced we are done for. It can really be tough! But it truly will not kill us, just those things that have enslaved us for so long. Keep your head up and focus on the daily bread in your hands and in your heart.

Note: Thanks to Elaine who got Priscilla's study to me. I recommend the study to anyone who is traveling to their promised land in some area of life. You will find Priscilla to be a great exhort-er along the way.