Reflections from Exodus 16
By Pilgrim Sojourner |Sharon SD Mac
Series: Pilgrim’s Diary: Faith in the Wilderness
This morning I opened Exodus 16 again.
Not to study it…
Not to analyze it…
Just to sit with it…
The people of Israel were already free. The sea had closed behind them. The danger they feared was gone.
And yet, they were hungry.
That stood out to me more than anything else. Freedom did not remove their need. Deliverance did not spare them from uncertainty. They were safe and still unsure.
I recognize that place…
When the Past Feels Safer Than the Unknown
They spoke about Egypt as if it were better than it was.
Not because it was good, but because it was familiar.
Grief does this. It reshapes memory, softens what was hard, and makes the unknown feel heavier than the pain we already understand. Sometimes the heart reaches backward not for joy, but for certainty.
And still, God listened.
God Gave What They Needed, Not What They Asked For
They wanted security…
They wanted reassurance…
They wanted a plan…
God gave them bread…
Enough for the day…
Not enough to store…
Not enough to control tomorrow…
Just enough to wake up, gather, and keep going.
There are days when I wish God would give me the whole picture. But most days, He gives me what I need to trust Him again…quietly, faithfully, without explanation.
Learning to Live One Morning at a Time
The manna could not be saved.
What they tried to keep for themselves spoiled by morning.
I’ve learned this the hard way: strength doesn’t last longer than it’s meant to. Yesterday’s courage does not always carry into today. Grief asks us to rely on grace we can’t see yet.
Each day invites the same question:
Will you trust Me again today?
Rest in the Middle of Uncertainty
God asked them to rest even in the wilderness.
That felt strange to me. Rest seems like something you earn once everything is settled. But God invited them to stop not because things were finished, but because He was faithful.
Rest is not resignation…
It is trust…
It says that provision does not depend on constant striving. That God is still at work even when we are not.
What Stayed With Me Today
The manna sustained them, but it wasn’t meant to last forever.
It pointed beyond itself.
Loss has a way of teaching this gently and painfully at the same time. The things we rely on cannot carry us the way God can. Only His presence remains steady when everything else shifts.
Where I Am Right Now
I don’t have clarity…
But I have enough for today…
Enough breath…
Enough strength…
Enough faith to take the next step…
That is not a lack…
That is how the journey continues…
One day…
One morning…
One portion at a time…
Soli Deo Gloria.
— Sharon SD Mac (Pilgrim Sojourner)
Reflection Questions — Walk With Me
Take your time with these. There is no rush in the wilderness.
1. Where are you feeling “free” yet still unsure?
What has God already brought you through, even as questions remain?
2. What familiar place does your heart return to when the future feels uncertain?
Why do you think that is?
3. What does “enough for today” look like in this season of your life?
Not tomorrow. Not next month. Just today.
4. What are you tempted to store or control instead of trusting God to provide again tomorrow?
5. How does rest feel to you right now, comforting, difficult, or unfamiliar?
What might it look like to rest as an act of trust?
6. In what quiet ways has God already met you in the waiting?
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