What would have happened had Moses tried to figure out what was needed to accomplish God’s command? One of the biggest arithmetical miracles in the world was required in the desert.
Moses led the people of Israel into the desert. Now what was he going to do with them? They had to be fed, and feeding 3.5 million people required a lot of food. According to the U.S. Army’s Quartermaster General, Moses needed 1,500 tons of food a day, filling two freight trains, each a mile long. Besides, you must remember, they were cooking the food (not to mention for keeping warm, and if anyone tells you it doesn’t get cold in the desert don’t believe them!). Just for cooking this took 4,000 tons of firewood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long and this is only for one day! They were for forty YEARS in transit!
Let’s not forget about water, shall we? If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes (without bathing?), it took 11 million gallons EACH DAY, enough to fill a train of tanker cars 1,800 miles long.
And another thing. They had to get across the Red Sea in one night. Now if they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and require 35 days and nights to complete the crossing. So to get it over in one night there had to be a space in the Red Sea 3 miles wide so that they could walk 5,000 abreast. Think about this; every time they camped at the end of the day, a camp ground the size of Rhode Island was required, or 750 square miles.
Do you think that Moses sat down and figured out the logistics of what God told him to do before he set out from Egypt? I doubt it. He had faith that God would take care of everything.
How often do we exercise the same faith in God’s provision that He will take care of the details when we’re in the midst of a crisis?
Missionary statesman Hudson Taylor was someone who had complete trust in God’s faithfulness. In his journal he wrote: “Our heavenly Father is a very experienced One. He knows very well that His children wake up with a good appetite every morning. He sustained 3 million Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years. We do not expect He will send 3 million missionaries to China; but if He did, He would have ample means to sustain them all.”
The truth of the matter is that without God, we are helpless and hopeless. We need him like a plant needs water. We have a luxury in knowing that we have a benevolent master who has promised to take care of us.
The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19 that ”My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory.”
There’s an old saying that goes “Where God guides, He always provides.” As we look toward the beginning of a New Year, let’s do well to remember that God has provided for us through this past year, through the hardships, heartbreak, triumphs and uncertainty, and that He will be there for us in the days, weeks and months to come. We can depend on it, because God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.
Best wishes for a happy and blessed New Year.
