24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.
Sometimes the Lord does things that let us know that He is in charge. As I write this, these words might have a very negative sound. We want to think that we are in charge of our lives, that we are in control. This is fundamental to our mindset in the United States. We are the most independent, self-determined people on the planet. We don’t want anyone messing with our stuff or our lives. We want to pursue what we want when we want it. We want our multiple new cars and vacations. We want our entertainment and our toys. The Israelites were not that different over 3000 years ago. They had been slaves, and now they were learning to walk with the Lord. They needed the simple lessons of life. The first one is that someone else is in charge! No matter how much we want to not believe this, it is true. Someone else has more control over your life than you do. Your choices make a difference, but in the end, other factors have great sway over the direction and particulars of our lives. When the Israelites picked up the Manna off the ground in the morning, if they tried to keep some an extra day, it stunk and rotted. But they are told to keep extra on the sixth day to eat on the seventh. And they are told it will not get smelly. The Lord is able to stop the decaying process for an extra day when He chose to do so. That is because He is in charge. It is such a small thing, but it shows that the Lord is in charge. It is so often that the greatest lessons in life are the ones that seem so small. The Lord wanted them to know that they could trust Him. This is true of small and large things. The Lord can be trusted with it all.
The Arnold Journey 