The way it is... right now

© 2018 Julie Crane All rights reserved

"I'm sorry. The cat food at the grocery store - the brand that you prefer - was all gone. This stuff is in a blue bag just like the other. It's chicken flavor, just like the other. We're in the midst of a pandemic. We all have to try new things for awhile."

Noooo! They cry. And cry. And paw at me with pleading eyes. "I'm sorry," I say yet again. "I'm not purposely trying to upset your norm. I'm doing the best I can. This is what we have available."

Maybe you don't have a finicky pet. But you may remember the moans and groans of family in the days after Thanksgiving. After: turkey sandwiches, turkey quiche, turkey casserole and turkey on a shingle...

And then there are these passages from the bible:

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost - also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onion and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna! (Numbers 11:4-6)

My cats version:
If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." (Exodus 16:3) (emphasis mine)

So, it's plain to see that having to make some adjustments for a season of time is not a new thing. And yet:

The cats cried.
The family cried.
The people cried.

And for what purpose?
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

As we enter yet another day of limitations, let us remember from past teachings. Let us remember spiritual food, spiritual abundance, and feast on what is truly God-given goodness.

The Sustainer of all life - past, present and future.