Living for Daily Bread Requires Discipline

Clear waters lapped the edges of the dock that I could have perched on for hours in picturesque Colorado. In late June, snow remained carpeted on the distant mountaintops in glistens of iridescent shimmer. Peace encapsulated this space save for my inability to operate a spinning reel. My speed is much more in tune with a classic Zebco spincast. I never can get the groove of the release and flip that’s necessary for mastery of the spinning reel contraption, and this moment ended in a dumpster fire of twisted line…which was then handed over to my husband… who released an audible sigh and began the maze of entanglement.

In the distance, on the other side of the mountain, dark gray puffs of smoke began wafting through the air. Within minutes puffs became clouds. A forest fire ensued. Air support began working from above, dropping water. Ground support had view of what was in their immediate vicinity, but the pilots could see the fullness and direct.

I often wish I could see the fullness of certain situations. Would I be able to handle it if I knew how it would all play out start to finish, or would I end up like the spinning reel- a tangled mess?

Living for daily bread requires discipline. The Israelites lived it (Exodus 16). After liberation from Egyptian slavery, the Lord rained down manna for them to eat in the morning and quail in the evening. They were only to take as much as they needed. If they took more than their share, it became rotten and unfit to eat (v.20). Their lives were dependent on this provision and their obedience and trust that God would do what He said.

The ground support firefighters must have lost vision clarity as dense smoke enveloped them. They had to rely on the communication from above to know the most effective next direction to lay support.

I can relate to that feeling. Thick smoke comprised of multiple question marks, concerns, wonderings, and an inability to understand some realities obstruct my vision. I need support from above.

We are instructed to pray in Matthew 6:11, “Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (NIV)

The spinning reel of today has enough trouble of its own. Striving to take control of what is not mine to direct leads me further into the captive, gray plumes. I need the Lord’s supreme direction, Whose ways are higher and plans are perfect (Isaiah 55: 8-9). Above all else.

Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (NIV)