Connor cast his line into the water and settled into his camp chair next to Grandpa.

“What a perfect day,” Grandpa said. “Not a cloud in the sky or a mosquito in sight. I could stay on this dock for hours.” He turned toward Connor. “What’s on your mind, son? You’ve been pretty quiet today. When you were younger, you were such a chatterbox you scared all the fish away.”

Connor gave Grandpa a small smile. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Want to talk about it?” Grandpa recast his line.

Connor sighed. “I’m going to be a senior in the fall, and I don’t know what I want to do with my life. I don’t know what I should major in or where I should go to college. Heck, I don’t even know if I should go to college. There’s so much to think about.”

Grandpa turned to Connor with kindness in his eyes. “Have you prayed about it?”

“Some. But God hasn’t given me the answers.”

“Do you expect God to give you all the answers for your future?”

“Sure. The Bible says if we ask for wisdom, God will give it to us. Why hasn’t God told me what I should do?”

Grandpa rose from his chair and set his pole in the pole holder on the edge of the dock. He turned back and gave Connor his full attention. “Do you remember when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness and God gave them manna to eat?”

“Yeah.”

“God told them to collect enough for just one day. If they gathered too much and they tried to save it overnight, it would spoil. Do you know why God did that?”

Connor bit his lip. “Because He wanted the Israelites to be obedient?”

“That’s part of it,” Grandpa said, “but also because He wanted them to trust Him each day to provide for their needs. I bet a bunch of those guys wanted to plan ahead. They wanted to gather enough manna to feed their families for the whole summer, or the whole year. Instead, each day, they had to trust that God would provide.”

Connor shrugged. “I guess that makes sense. I never thought that old manna story would help me figure out what to do about college.” He felt a tug on his line. He reeled it in and checked the hook. “Lost my bait.” He baited the hook and cast the line back out into the water.

Grandpa chuckled. “If you don’t like the manna story, how about just listening to what Jesus said?”

“What did Jesus have to say about me going to college?” Connor asked.

Grandpa adjusted his hat and leaned back in his chair. “I’m sure you know Jesus never talked about college. But when He taught his disciples to pray, He said ‘Give us each day our daily bread.’ It’s the same as the manna. He didn’t tell us to ask for more than we’d need in a day. If we ask God for wisdom, He’ll give us what we need for that day. If He told you everything you needed to know for the next four years, you wouldn’t need to keep depending on him each day.”

Connor nodded. “Hmm. I guess you have a point.”

Grandpa checked his pole. “I have one more for you.”

“Oh?”

Jesus called Himself the bread of life. Not only do we need physical bread, we need spiritual bread as well. If you spend time in prayer with Jesus each day, He will meet your spiritual needs. He’ll give you the wisdom He’s promised, and He’ll fill your spirit with His peace. He’ll be your daily bread.”

Connor’s line nearly jumped out of his hands. He set the hook and started reeling. “I think this is a big one.” He fought against the line with all his strength until finally, a huge silver trout shot up out of the water. He pulled it in towards the dock, and Grandpa caught it in a net.

Connor grinned at Grandpa. “Looks like I caught my daily meal for today.”

“That’s right. Just like you wouldn’t want a lifetime of bread all at the same time, you wouldn’t want a lifetime of fish, either.”

“True. Where would we put it all?’

“So don’t be so quick to ask for all of God’s answers at once. He’ll give you exactly what you need each day.”

Connor pulled the hook out of the fish’s mouth and dropped the trout into the cooler. He set his pole on the ground and wrapped his arms around Grandpa. “God gave me exactly what I needed today. He gave me you.”

God, thank You for the wisdom You share in Your word. And thank You for the Christians in our lives who have shared Your wisdom with us. Help us to share Your word with others. Please help us to trust You with our futures, one day at a time. You tell us those who are faithful in little things with be trusted with big things. We need to trust You with the little details of our lives. Thank You for caring about those details and about us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Exodus 16: 4-5, 13-17

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

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.