Toilet Paper, Gasoline, and Manna, Oh My!!

What do these 3 things have in common? I think the word is “shortage”.

First, the toilet paper. Remember over a year ago (March 2020) when COVID was ramping up, and the toilet paper was flying off of the shelf?? (Has anyone figured this out yet??). It is something we use every day, and every person/business/organization uses it! Pretty important, but why the hoarding? Why not buy just enough for ourselves as usual? Did anyone ask God what to do about this situation before hoarding began?

Just recently on the east coast, an oil pipeline was hacked, and people began hoarding gasoline in whatever containers they could find, regardless of how safe they were. (Plastic bags??) Just about every person over the age of 16 uses gasoline for travel back/forth to work, for business, for emergency vehicles, for lawn care businesses, etc. Pretty important for these people, but why the hoarding? Why not buy just enough for ourselves as usual? Did anyone ask God what to do about this situation before hoarding began?

The shortage continued for months in the case of TP and weeks in the case of gasoline. Wonder what these scenarios would have looked like if everyone had asked God what to do about the situation before hoarding began? Would we have bought just what we needed for that day/week? I realize this would be a really difficult thing to do. It would take a LOT of trust in each other (to do the right thing) and a lot of trust in God to ensure that there was enough for each day, especially if your livelihood depended on it.

After God gave me the words “TP and gasoline”, He also added the word “manna”. Let’s consider the Israelites and the manna which God provided. Was there a shortage? Not with manna! There was a shortage of the food they had with them as they reached the 2nd month of traveling from Egypt. As they entered the Desert of Sin, they were grumbling to Moses and Aaron about what they needed. There was really nothing to hoard at this point. It was all about what they needed!

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God." Exodus 16:11-12 (NIV)

They were thirsty due to no water. And they were hungry for meat, complaining that in Egypt, they had as much meat as they could eat every meal. God told Moses that He would provide for them. They soon had access to water and manna every day. When they would get up in the morning, the manna was waiting for them on the ground. God gave strict instructions to pick up only what they needed for that day. The only exception was to gather twice as much on the sixth day because the seventh day was the Sabbath - a day of rest. (Exodus 16)

So what difference do you see between the toilet paper/gasoline occurrences and the manna provided to the Israelites? To me, it was the fact that the Israelites grumbled to Moses and Aaron about their needs. It may not have been a “please, will you talk with God about this?” but was a demanding type of grumbling. They made their needs known, and the Lord heard it and supplied them with manna and quail.

With the toilet paper and gasoline, did people ask God for help with this issue? Or did we take matters into our own hands because we thought/guessed/heard rumors that there would be high demands on toilet paper and gasoline, and we just knew that we could not be without?? Was God even included in this type of thinking/guessing/selective hearing?

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 (NLT)

There were some who hoarded the manna initially and gathered more than they needed for that day. However what remained overnight was covered with maggots the next day and had a terrible smell. Then they obeyed God’s instructions to gather only 2 quarts per person per day and twice as much on the sixth day. The Israelites did this for 40 years of wandering in the wilderness! 40 years!!!

Essentially they could not hoard the manna. If they tried, the manna was inedible. God had given them strict instructions to follow and had made sure there were consequences if these were not followed. There were other areas in which the Israelites were not obedient, but this was ‘set up” for them so that disobedience was not an option. God set it up this way as a test to determine who would follow His instructions (Exodus 16:4), and maybe He also did it this way so that there was no waste. He has asked us to be good stewards of this earth and all that He has given us.

What is the issue here? Don’t hoard anything unless you absolutely have to?? Always protect yourself and family first and foremost?? Let me see what I can get away with so I won’t have to depend on others for my needs??

No, not really. The Israelites showed us that in their grumbling, they were actually making known their needs so that Moses could pray for God’s help. The problem is that of not trusting God completely. Why are we relying on ourselves to take care of everything? What happened to asking God for help?

Thanks for stopping by,

Rachel