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
