Is your 'manna' enough?

Just finished studying a chapter with my husband for our marriage ministry about Sexual Saints.

In this chapter from Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas is describing the value of sex and passion as God designed it.  He says

"Remember--every hunger that entices us in the flesh is an exploitation of a need that can be better met by God."

This is where I became introspective in my life ~ thus far, I have 'bought' the idea of needing to be pretty and attractive.  He says

"Does God think three hours a day in a gym, working feverishly against the realities of nature to preserve an adolescent stomach (with the hips of a mature woman and breasts of a nursing mother), is a good and profitable use of time?"  

He is not saying we are to neglect this 'temple' God has blessed us with.  He's addressing the same issue the Israelites had as they wondered the desert for 40 years. Over and over again, God provided for them, but they were either not satisfied or did not trust He would provide 'tomorrow' which motivated them to hoard manna 'today'.  

If you are familiar with the scripture ... what happened to the manna they had stored?  How did it turn out when they were 'over-doing'?  As Priscilla Schirer reveals in her Breathe Bible Study "there was a foulness". A stench, a horrible smell--rotting.

Priscilla continues with a description of a slave mind-set.

"... a slave mind-set is that it's rooted in scarcity and lack.  Brutalized and brainwashed by their captors, the Hebrews rarely had enough of anything to meet their needs.  The result of this kind of paltry living had made some of them hoarding, selfish vagabonds, unable to see the abundant goodness of Yahweh that was dripping from His hand directly in to their dusty laps.  They were always afraid they wouldn't have enough, so letting go of any excess was unthinkable."

So, we as women continue to think that just as we are ... we 'aren't enough'... we create what I like to call the Barbie and Ken pretend thinking.

As we promote the 'pretend' in all of media for our men to see, Gary Thomas warns

"As a result we are more and more directing the desires of men to something which does not exist--making the role of the eye in sexuality more and more important and at the same time making its demands more and more impossible."

"The Christian duty of married men is to reverse the propensity and make the role of the eye in sexuality less important as we embrace the spiritual reality of what is taking place.  Sight will always matter to men--that's how God wired us--but we can become mature in what we long to see."

****

This made me remember a time in my life when I 'indulged' in most anything I 'saw' and felt necessary to 'be happy'.  I furnished and renovated a home to fit my 'needs' perfectly.  I traveled on airplanes, just for a weekend, in limousines to lavish places.  You would think this 'excess' would result in exceedingly, abundantly ... [fill in the blank].  But not so much,   the end result was a very dark, empty feeling.  

I call this time in my life my 'cave' time.  

During this time I was raising two children and they saved me from myself.  I had to 'do' certain things like get up in the morning, get them off to school, then go to work, come home to grab a nap and pick them up and off to their activities.  Without this, I'm not sure I would have survived these years --  

I praise God for supplying to meet my needs even when I didn't pursue Him.  

I followed this time in my life with a time where I over-indulged in my work.  I was on every committee, the program at my school I was in charge of was one of the most successful in the state, I had a role in most every important aspect at my job where I was a 'vital' member and I stayed very busy and 'hidden'.  My friendships were very few and contact with people was in short sentences and direct, to the point conversations were my trademark.  Can you identify with that ladies?

It is having that time in my life to reflect on now [which matches the Israelites when they were stuffing themselves with quail that ends in despair and sickness] that gives me a comparing place today ... 
A place to remember what you used to be 
and 
To recall what God has accomplished on my behalf. (Priscilla Shirer, Breathe). 

Deuteronomy 5:15 'Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.'

The key concept here is ~ it wouldn't matter if you did have the perfect skin using that latest product like Nerium to look younger.  And if you had that perfect home, with extra money and that top name-brand car with a vacation planned every 6 months to an exotic location ... you could end with that emptiness I experienced during my 'cave' years.

God provides the manna you need in the very time you are in now. (Lord, help us to be convinced in your provision.) 

That manna is your husband, your home, your life as it is RIGHT NOW.  To bring more into that space is our freedom of choice, but recognizing that true joy is in what He has provided RIGHT NOW in its abundance ... no more, no less.

Think about how He created this solar system, where the planet Earth is located ... it couldn't survive in any other environment just precisely where He has us.  It is SO perfect!!

Will you accept your manna ... leave your cave ... stop hiding?

"Remember--every hunger that entices us in the flesh is an exploitation of a need that can be better met by God."

Thank you Lord!!