Bread of Afliction

About a month ago, I was in the store, making a major grocery purchase in preparation for the big lock down, stay-at-home mandate. I was in the baking aisle, looking for yeast when I overheard a prophetic conversation. A “hip” middle-aged woman was holding up a small envelope of yeast, muttering to herself about how much she would need. She asked some passing Old Order Mennonite ladies how much yeast she would need to make a loaf of bread – she wanted to try her hand at making bread now that she would be at home more. The Mennonite ladies, smiling uneasily, told her that each recipe was different and that the recipe would tell her how much she needed. She popped the 3-pack yeast in her basket, thanked them and went on her way.

I, on the other hand, was dismayed to find yet another store out of large containers of fast-acting yeast. It has been a challenge to find yeast in many stores, and flour and baking powder; there have been limits placed on how many bags of sugar and flour and yeast you can buy when you do get to the store when they're available. Robin Hood flour and Fleischmann's yeast companies are struggling to keep up with demand for their products. Many people, being compelled to stay home, have turned their hands to homey endeavors, like baking bread and making cookies. I know I have made many more batches of bread in the last couple weeks than usual.

Bread is simple, homey, comfort food. It is basically flour and water, sufficient to sustain life. Throw in a little extra sugar and an egg, deep fry the dough, and you get delicious doughnuts. Some breads are better than others. Sometimes we are required to eat the “bread of adversity.”

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength,

but you would have none of it.”

…

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.

For the Lord is a God of justice.

Blessed are all who wait for him!

People of Zion who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.

How gracious he will be when you cry for help!

As soon as he hears, he will answer you.

Although the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,

your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,

“This is the way; walk in it.”

Then you will desecrate your idols...

Isaiah 30:15, 18 - 22a

I came across this passage in my devotions about five years ago and I keep coming back to it, mainly because I think I haven't fully learned the lesson.

The kingdom of Judah is under attack by the Assyrians. Judah starts looking to Egypt, another superpower, for protection. Instead, God wants them to look to Him for protection and guidance. In verse 15, God reminds them that, just like in the Exodus when they were at the Red Sea with the Egyptians pursuing them, they need only to be quiet, trust in him and wait for him to deliver them; “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14). Judah wants to take action and is quick to turn to security that could be seen and felt - the military might of Egypt. So the Lord gives them “the bread of adversity and the water of affliction” to get their attention and to draw it back to himself – gracious and compassionate Jehovah, provider of the necessities of life (bread and water) even in their misguided waywardness.

Despite centuries of His undertaking for them, God's people continue to drift away, putting their trust in other places, relying on earthly powers for safety and security. I, too, find myself in this same situation time and time again. I have many examples of when God took care of me, provided for me, guided me, and yet I still find my trust misplaced on things like the size of my bank account, the affirmation and approval of others, the security of the “known.” These things are easier to “see” or “feel” than what God may or may not be doing behind the curtain of daily life. And so my faith is weak. And yet the promises that are available to me if I rest in God's strength instead of my own are immeasurable: God will rise up to show me compassion! He will be gracious to me! He will help me! He will answer me! He will reveal the path I should take!

The unleavened bread eaten during the Passover celebration is referred to as “the bread of affliction.” The Israelites are to eat it “so that all the days of your life you may remember your departure from Egypt” (Deut. 16:3). The “bread of affliction” and the “bread of adversity,” though temporarily unpleasant or uncomfortable or even painful, act as reminders to put our trust in the God who rescues us from bondage, fights for us, provides for us, and has ultimately given himself to free us (Christ, the broken Passover bread, 1 Cor. 11:23 – 24). The bread of adversity is a call back to God, to rest in Him and let him do all the heavy lifting.

Have we “mis-placed” our trust, setting it on the wrong things? Do we have idols we need to let go of? Are we still and quiet enough to hear the compassionate voice of God calling us to trust and rest fully in Him?

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,

yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us

an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary,

but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16 - 18