If ever a group of people were repeatedly shown grace, it was the Jews who wandered for 40 years. They rebelled, they complained, they attempted a coup! They were a group of people that constantly needed harnessing and reigning back into doing what God had said to do. 

And yet…..and yet! Every morning no matter how they had rebelled or grumbled yesterday, they came out of their dusty tents, rubbing their sandy eyes, to find fresh manna delivered by their loving God. He could have used manna like the proverbial carrot on a string to keep them in line. “Obey, and you’ll get your manna. Grumble and rebel, and I’ll let you see what life will be like without my provision.” But He didn’t! His goodness flowed to them morning after morning.

And to top it off, for 40 years He made sure that the 6th day’s manna was enough so that the people could gather extra and sleep in the next day, not having to go and gather the day’s supply of food. They had 40 years of edible proof that God’s mercies were new every morning! How He treasured this motley crew of willful rebels! Such grace!

God used a psalmist (see Psalm 95:7-11) and a New Testament writer to express God’s feelings about their response to His works on their behalf. The author of Hebrews was thinking about that psalm when he wrote: “…Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness. There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years. Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering and they have not known my ways.’” (See full context in Hebrews 3:7-11)

God said they saw His works, yet didn’t know His ways! They cried out to Him in panic every time they ran into trouble, and He came through for them, time after time after time. But somehow that didn’t melt their rebellious hearts. They didn’t interpret His works on their behalf as His love call to them! He performed miracles again and again, but still they didn’t trust Him enough to choose His ways, the covenant-keeping course of life that would keep them following their trusted Shepherd’s path. 

Lord, right now we are in a time when our world is full of chaos and we are desperate for You. Truly only You can fix our mess! May neither history, nor You, ever say about this generation that we saw Your works but didn’t know Your ways. Only the path that is Yours will lead us ever closer to our Father’s heart. Holy Spirit, we need You to work in our hearts until we desire Your ways and Your heart far more than we desire Your signs, wonders. May each and every answered prayer serve to draw us closer and closer to Your heart! We love you!