The purpose of an oasis is just to renew you enough to keep following God through the desert.
Extravagant Mercy by M. Craig Barnes, p. 69.
Exodus 16:1 New International Version (NIV)
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month
after they had come out of Egypt.
Exodus 16:2-3 (NIV)
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
IF ONLY!
Shoulda Woulda Coulda…
Hindsight is always 20/20
Exodus 16:11-18 (NIV)
The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer [about 2 quarts] for each person you have in your tent.’”
The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
Manna (Hebrew) – “What is it?”
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Matthew 6:34 (NIV)
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.