Be Careful What You Ask For

A story in the Old Testament tells of how God supernaturally provided for the children of Israel on a daily basis as they walked through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Every morning when they came out of their tents, something called manna would be waiting there for them. All they had to do was pick it up off the ground and eat it.

But after a while, they got sick of eating manna. They basically said, “We’re sick of manna. We remember the good old days back in Egypt when we ate garlic, leeks, and onions. And most of all, we remember meat.”

The funny thing is that when the devil reminds us of our past, we often look at it through rose-colored glasses. He will say, “Remember the good old days? Remember those times when you partied? Remember the fun?” But he never says, “Remember how empty you were? Remember the guilt that would never go away? Remember that depression you constantly found yourself in? Remember how afraid you were to die?” He never says that. Instead, he reminds us of the few good times we had. But the bad times outweigh them.

God gave the complaining Israelites what they wanted, and the Bible says it rained quail—so much so, they were knee-high in quail. But it turned bitter in their mouths.

How foolish we are when we try to keep God out of our lives as we blindly pursue our plans and passions. Many times God will not let us get what we’re after. But sometimes He will. He’ll let us get what we want so we’ll see that it isn’t what we thought it was.

Once you’ve tasted of the living water that Jesus gives, the polluted streams of this world never will satisfy again.