We are chronic comparers. We measure everything against theirs, even if we don’t know anything about who ‘theirs’ is. Social media helps a lot. We read one post, and we compare their ministry against our influence. We hear a testimony, and we think about our prayers waiting to be answered. No one sees. It is our secret. Comparison sits with us throughout our lives, hand in hand with injustice. Someone always seems to gather more: more gifting, favour, visible fruit, or whatever we have decided matters this week. We can forget it works both ways. Somewhere, right now, someone is gathering less than you.
This comparison of measuring my basket against someone else’s is one of the oldest thefts in the human heart. It robs us of the gratitude for what’s actually in our hands.
In the miraculous provision from God of the manna and meat from heaven, it would seem He had this comparison problem in mind.
“That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: “Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.”‘ The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.” (Exodus 16:13-18)
An omer is a Hebrew unit of dry measure — roughly one person’s daily food. God sent quail as meat and manna as bread, enough to blanket every tent in the camp.
Here’s what we need to take note of: the people go out and gather different amounts, some much, some little, yet when it’s measured, no one has too much, no one has too little. That doesn’t add up. But grace never does. God’s provision isn’t identical for everyone; it is sufficient for everyone. The one who gathered much gained nothing by it. The one who gathered little lost nothing by it.
So stop measuring your gathering against someone else’s. The miracle was never that everyone got the same amount but that everyone got exactly enough. What you’ve gathered today is your omer. Be thankful.
Missions Paul 