The reason God did provide Manna to the people of Israel is because they complained about not having anything to eat.

"Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:2-3)

So the Israelites complained. I'm sure not all of them even though the text treats it as if the entire camp complained. There were always individual or small groups of Israelites who did not go along with the complainers, but the complainers made life miserable for everyone. So "they" complained and God provided. Did He have to provide? Not really, but He was patiently trying to get the Israelites to know that they could always depend upon Him to provide for their needs.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. (Exodus 16:4-5)

Notice in the above text, God did what He did not only to provide for them, but to TEST them. This of course, is completely different from tempting them, which God would never do and He would never tempt us either. Temptation comes from Satan or our own flesh.

God wanted to see if these people were willing to "walk in (His) law or not." That's reasonable and God has every right to test each and every person who claims the title Christian and the salvation that goes along with it.

A good question to ask ourselves is, "Will I hold up under His testing of me?"

God also provided meat for them in the form of quail on a daily basis (Exodus 16:13). So they had manna in the morning and quail in the evening. But would they do what God asked of them, by only gathering enough for that day and just prior to the Sabbath, gathering enough to take them through the Sabbath so they wouldn't go hungry or wouldn't be tempted to go out and gather?

It seems most people knew how to obey the Lord, but there are always some who don't. Verse 27 informs us that "some" of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but lo and behold, they didn't find anything! Imagine that.

God was entirely gracious at this disobedience. He talked to Moses and said, "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." (Exodus 16:28b-29).

It is unfortunately, relatively easy to sin by not following His commands (doing what He wants us to do in the way we think, speak and act), or by not doing our part at all.

Imagine if the Israelites, after they had complained and heard what God was going to provide, decided they wouldn't go out and collect either the manna or quail? Safe to say they would've gone hungry, right?

They obviously needed to physically get up and go outside to where the manna and quail would be found, then physically needed to bend over and pick it up and place in a basket for that day. It required their involvement. God did not have the manna magically appear inside each family's tent, did he? They had to do their part to ensure that they would not go hungry.

Today, we are seeing a drastic increase in prices. It started with gas prices because the Keystone Pipeline drilling permit was pulled by the current administration. This resulted in the immediate cessation of drilling and the loss of many jobs associated with it. The other thing that occurred was the immediate rise in gas prices at the fuel pumps. From there, since nearly all product we buy in stores is trucked to those stores, prices of that product rose and continues to rise as well because of the additional cost of fuel for the truckers that are tasked with bringing product to the stores we shop in.

Imagine if Christians had totally carefree attitudes and didn't do anything to help themselves here thinking "God will provide." What might happen? Bad things might happen.

Just as the Israelites had to go outside to pick up the manna or quail and only enough for that day, we also must go to the store and purchase the things we need. Of course, in our situation, we might have to buy more of certain items in order to stock up a bit on things for the possibility that in the coming days, we may find less of what we normally find on store shelves.

This situation reminds me of the terrible famine that occurred under Joseph. God alerted him to it through Pharoah and Pharoah wound up relying on Joseph for the interpretation of that dream and to know what to do and how to approach the situation. You can read about this in Genesis 47.

Because the people knew ahead of time that a great famine was coming they made intelligent decisions based on Joseph's direction and knowledge that they should stock up on grains so that they would not go hungry when the famine really kicked in.

It's probably time to start stocking up on extra items. Build up your pantry and by the way, I'm not talking about the hardcore preppers, the ones who talk about having a gun turret and booby-traps to keep thieves away.

I'm talking about building up a small pantry for yourself that you may end up sharing with family and/or neighbors. Isn't that a wonderful way to spreak the Gospel as well, because sharing will open doors.

Without going into the realm of conspiracy theories, it appears that the road ahead is going to get bumpy. I'm thankful I have a backup generator and that I bought gallons of gas for it before. I'm thankful we were able to buy 1/4 of a cow and then another one. I'm thankful that we have a well and are not connected to city water. I'm thankful for a lot of things and I look back over the last four or five years and I realize that the things I've done during that time have turned out to be good decisions for life now.

This does not mean if you haven't started, it's too late. No, it's not too late. Each time you go to the store, buy extra staples. Forget the extras like chips, soda, and ice cream. Get what you actually need to eat well.

God expects us to trust Him and we show Him that we trust Him by doing things that are required of us, instead of expecting Him to do it all. He will provide but we must partner with Him in the process just like the Israelites and the Hebrews in Egypt did before them.

Proverbs 16:6 says, "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged; and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil" (KJV).