What lasts forever?

There they are, escaping from the clutches of Pharaoh after decades of oppression. What a fantastic feeling, to be free at last! But the band of newly liberated Israelites encounters a big obstacle in their path to freedom: the Red Sea. The Egyptian chariots are hard on their heels, breathing down their necks, and if they have to skirt the edges of the Red Sea the bad guys will surely catch up with them and haul them back to captivity.
So Moses holds up his staff and stretches his hand over the waters and God divides the Red Sea, and leads the Israelites across the middle on dry land. It is a miracle. Even better, when the Egyptian soldiers try to follow the escaping slaves, the waters close over them and they are drowned. The Israelites are blown away and say, “The Lord will be my God forever.” You can read this amazing adventure story in Exodus 14. Share it with your children and grandchildren.
But if you keep reading Exodus, you discover a few days later the Israelites have already started complaining to Moses. They are hungry and would rather go back to the land of Egypt – where at least they had enough bread. Rabbi Harold Kushner says, “What we learn is that the word ‘forever’ is a technical term meaning 48 hours. Somebody promises to be grateful forever. You can hold them to it for 48 hours and after that it is a lost cause.”
Yesterday’s miracle is not always enough to nourish us today. So instead of one spectacular miracle, God changes tactics. God provides manna one day at a time. Food is spread on the ground outside their tents overnight, and in the morning they go out, gather it up, and bring it in. They feed their families. God provides daily sustenance, only enough for one day at a time.
No miracle lasts forever. The miracle is that God gives us this day our daily bread. And that is enough. We are not capable of feeling grateful forever. But we can be thankful for the blessings we receive one day at a time. Poet Thomas Chisholm said it well in this hymn:
Great is your faithfulness! Great is your faithfulness! Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed your hand has provided. Great is your faithfulness, God, unto me.
Trust that God will give you what you need . . . in this day.
In Christian love, Julie R. Harley