Ordinary Time 
Pause
Consider this text from John Newton's, The Lord Will Provide.
Though troubles assail and dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail and foes all unite;
Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
The scripture assures us, the Lord will provide.
Still your heart. When you are ready, read today's scripture and open yourself to the One who provides.
Listen
Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days." So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?" And Moses said, "When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord."
Exodus 16:4-8
Think
Recently, my family took a vacation to the beach. It rained the entire time…and I mean the entire time. It should have been lovely, and I was with my whole family…in the rain. I had the comforts of home and was surrounded by the people I love, but the complaints came easily.
When do you complain the most? Why do we complain? Is it because things aren’t going as we planned or envisioned? Life may not go as we plan. Plans change. Events may not unfold as we had hoped. Life may throw us some curveballs. People let us down. The answer to a prayer may come in an unexpected way, or perhaps with an answer we didn’t pray for. And so we complain.
Moses tells the people of Israel, you have been complaining to God and God has heard you. For us, the promise is this: in the depths of our pain, and complaining, God hears us. God hears our cries from the wilderness.
Marnie Fisher-Ingram
Pray
God, in the depths of my pain, hear my cry. In my wandering in the wilderness, hear my cry. Amen.
Go
No strength of our own, or goodness we claim,
Yet since we have known the Savior's great name;
In this our strong tower for safety we hide,
The Lord is our power, the Lord will provide.
The Lord Will Provide, by John Newton
