Some unanswered prayers could be a blessing in disguise! In our text, we find an instance of a request granted Israel to the detriment of their souls. What God provided for them was the manna. Instead, they lusted after animal protein. Though the request was granted, they became sick in the process. In His teaching in Matthew 6 Jesus declared that our Heavenly Father knows what we need, even before we utter the slightest prayer. Judging from this we could say that in designing their meal God had factored in what was most suitable for them at that time. Had they needed something different, God’s loving providence would have supplied that too.

Had they needed something different, God’s loving providence would have supplied that too…There is usually a bigger picture wrapped around whatever He does.

Numbers 11:7 gives us insight into the particular details of the food provided by God. “Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium.” Take particular notice of what God gave them. The colour of the manna was said to be of bdellium. In the whole of the Bible bdellium is mentioned only twice: here and in Genesis where the Garden of Eden is described. By giving them manna, it seems God was doing more than just giving them their daily bread. He was sending them a message; that life could actually be like the Garden of Eden if His people would obey Him. They missed the message. God is not a magician; He doesn’t do miracles to excite us. Beyond this, He does not even do miracles just to meet our needs. There is usually a bigger picture wrapped around whatever He does. There is a bigger picture to the circumstances of your life right now. Don’t be carried away by your affluence or disgruntled by your austere state and lose what God wants to pass across to you. The lesson is far more important than your circumstances. Israel rejected the manna and forfeited the message that God was trying to teach them in the same breath.