What Is It?

Questions for Reflection

Review the Sermon:
Read Exodus 16:1-15

• What stood out to you from the sermon this week?
• Pastor Beth talked about the difference between demanding expectations of God vs. waiting expectantly for Him to move. She quoted Pfifer and Chung: “Expectations demand a certain result; expectancy trusts and hopes… Expectations force God into a box to act as we want; expectancy allows God to be God in our lives, activating on his own will.” What does it look like to let go of our expectations and instead live in anticipation of what God will do?

Dive into the Scripture:

• What do the Israelites grumble about in the desert in verse 3? Why is “grumbling” such a part of the human experience? In what areas of your life you do find yourself grumbling?
• What is God’s response to the Israelites’ complaints? What does that tell us about God?
• How did God provide for his people in the desert? What do you think the Israelites learned through this provision?

Live it Out:

• The Israelites had to unlearn their propensity to grumble and their need for control. The wilderness was a “Classroom of Unlearning” for them. What are you “unlearning” in this season?
• God invited His people to go out each morning and gather up manna in the wilderness. He could have delivered a full course meal on each of their doorsteps 3 times a day without them having to do any work, but instead, he invited them into a new practice in the midst of the desert chaos. What practices or rhythms remind you of God’s faithfulness in the midst of chaos? What new practices might help you to wait expectantly on His Provision?

Prayer:

• In what areas of your life do you need God to provide this week?