How To ThriveSample

How To Survive THRIVE - Physically

Day 6: Physical vs Spiritual

God had just delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.  Now they are in the desert fending for themselves. God provides food for them every morning.  We call it manna, which literally means “what is it?”.  But this manna that came every morning was life giving.  It sustained them and kept them healthy day after day for many years.  

But it wasn’t just about the food, it was about much more.  For generations they knew nothing but slavery.  They didn’t know how to live as free people.  And so God built spiritual lessons into their physical world to help them learn how to live in this world that God had created.  

Every day they were to collect only enough manna for that day.  In the beginning, some of the people were concerned about whether the manna would be there the next morning.  So they kept a little extra just for security.  The truth is that it makes perfect sense and in other places God tells us that that is a good idea at times.  But in this case, God had something that He wanted to teach them about who He was.  He wanted them to trust in Him and not in how clever they were.  

Jesus made a similar statement during the Sermon on the Mount.  He tells us not to worry about tomorrow.  God will take care of tomorrow.  Then He takes a physical world example and applies it to our spiritual lives.  “Look at the birds,” He says, they don’t worry about tomorrow.  

When we try and separate our spiritual lives from our physical world we miss much of what God has for us.  Apparently it was Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who said “we are not human beings looking for a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings looking for a human experience.”

As you go throughout your day, look for the ways in which your human experience (physical world)  intersects with your spiritual experience.  Look for lessons that God might want to teach you on a spiritual level from your human existence.

Above all, trust HIM for what you need today.

Written by Skip Collins | uMhlanga Campus Pastor