Just Enough

Bill Brinkworth

After two months of being led out of the bondage in Egypt, the people of Israel complained (Exodus 16:2) about not having the food they liked. They ignored the fact that they had been mistreated in slavery, God had delivered them from their bondage, and that they daily could see God’s leadership and provision as they traveled through the wilderness. God, however, heard their complaints and met their needs.

God rained “bread” from heaven every morning for the people. The sweet, small bread was also called “the corn of heaven” and angel’s food (Psalms 78:24-25). Six days a week the manna rained down, just enough for every man, woman, and child to eat. Each family gathered what they could eat; about one omer (3.6 liters). After the sun burned hot, there was no manna left. The manna melted. They had just enough for that day!

If the people did not trust that God would provide the “bread” the next day, and tried to hoard it, it would stink and turn to worms. They had no choice but to trust that God would provide their daily needs. To compound God’s miracle of provision, on the day before the Sabbath, when they were not to work, God rained down a two-day’s supply of manna. The bread gathered that day would last two days. God gave them just enough food every day for the next 40 years, until they ate corn in the land (Joshua 5:12) that God had led them to.

All through the Bible there are examples of God’s meeting the needs of His own. Jacob had a son, Joseph, in the right position to provide his family food during a drought. God provided just enough food to meet all Israel’s needs when they were in the wilderness. The widow’s miraculously-refilling barrel of meal and the cruse of oil were just enough to meet Elijah’s and the widow’s needs. Jesus told the disciples to reach the world with the Gospel and not carry anything extra. In all cases, God provided just enough. They were not to have extra, because they were to trust in God, and see what He would do for them on a daily basis.

Man’s distrusting nature relies too often on his own provision. There needs to be a correct balance about saving for a “rainy day” and amassing as much a one can get because he thinks that only he can provide. We are to be wise and good stewards of what we have, but not dependent only on what we do. It is often forgotten that God wants us to trust him for everything, including our daily needs.

Most people have long forgotten, or never given any thought or trust, that it is God that is the one that ultimately provides all we have. It is not a government’s foodstamps, or its welfare that we should be relying on. It is not our big barns of storage, as the “fool” in Luke 12:16-21, trusted in. It would not take much for a government to collapse, especially these days, or “barns” of investments or savings accounts to fail; and then where would those people be, that are relying on them.

My wife and I have learned a long time ago that God will meet our daily needs. We saved what we could, sometimes only ten dollars a week, and have been frugal with our purchases, but still tithed (gave to the Lord through the local church). We soon learned that God honored his promises and did provide our “daily bread” (Mat. 6:11). We have always had enough to pay our bills. When in desperate need of housing, God allowed us to have just enough money from an insurance claim to fix-up an old house. When our house was in desperate need of paint, the paint I found was just enough to cover the job and just “happened” to be the right color. Without planning, I purchased seeds for the garden, and they were just enough to cover the available space. Repair jobs around the house are often met by having just enough materials laying around the house. Food prepared happens to be just enough to meet the needs of all the unexpected guests that dropped in for dinner. Clothes given to us, just happened to fit exactly our sizes. On and on, I could go of 30+ years of God’s precise provision. Sometimes we had a little extra, only to find, in a couple of days that it would be just enough to replace a damaged tire or meet the needs of another emergency. After thousands of examples of just having enough, we quickly learned it was not coincidence, but God’s provision.

If we had had a surplus, we may not have been reliant and appreciative of God’s provision. If we had had everything we wanted, we may have been like the wealthy man I visited one time. After I told him the Bible’s plan of salvation, he looked me in the face and said, “Look around. Do you see all I have?” He did have a large mansion, cars, and other splendid things. “Does it look like I need God?” He needed to know that it was God that had provided, not himself. Without God’s help he may not have the health, or the intellect, to have earned that money. People like that who have such self-trust often have to, and do, lose all they have to find out Who really is in control.

Today’s world has become more dependent on their own devices or government aid; including Christians! Unfortunately, those provisions frequently let those, that trust them, down. The ways of man are not trustworthy, nor always reliable. God, however will never let his own down that trust in Him. Rely on God to provide. He may give you just enough, but it will be He that you will reliably trust in. You will then see what the mighty hand of God will do in your life.
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Mat. 21:22
“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” I John 3:22

“When you're down to nothing, God may be up to something.”

This article was featured in The Bible View #398.