Not Like Frogs

“Time is filled with swift transition, naught of earth unmoved can stand. Build your hopes on things eternal, hold to God’s unchanging hand” (Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand; v1)

“And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” Joshua 5.12

We do not like change. What is comfortable and familiar is much easier to accept and deal with. Consider the short story; “How do you boil a frog? You put him in a pot of cool water and turn on the heat. If you put him in boiling water, he’ll jump out”. Truly, the world is always changing, adapting, moving. Try as we might to keep things the way we grew up, the world will develop a way to ruin the innocence we once perceived.

In a day, the children of Israel went from being nomads to being city dwelling, land owners. The only sustenance they ever knew in their entire lives was gone overnight. Their entire lives changed in one day. Was this a problem? YES!

For a moment, consider that God had “rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven” (Psalm 78.24). The people that had grown their own food all died in the wilderness. These people had been brought up always getting fed, every night, by God alone- as was His stated purpose and plan! (Numbers 11.9, Deuteronomy 8.3) No doubt, someone must have looked around and thought growing their own crops was a sign of a lack of humility. After all, “we’ve always done it this way”.

Time is filled with SWIFT transition. Jesus prayed, “give us this day our daily bread”, and then tells us not to worry about what we will eat (Matthew 6.11 25). Perhaps this another reason why Joshua is, and the people of that time are, told to be “strong and courageous” eight times! Changes in life are not comfortable, but they are inevitable. Refusing to adapt to the situations that life presents us will leave us in the same predicament as the frog in the pot- cooked. Be strong. Be courageous. God will provide all we need. Build your hopes on things eternal.