Winner, Winner! Chicken Dinner!

I've written before about memorials. An Ebeneezer. A place in time, a place on earth that brings to mind the personal goodness of the Lord in your life. As Samuel said, "Thus far has the Lord helped us." When we're praying for something, and we can't see God at work, the reminders we keep close to our hearts and foremost in our minds, can provide the hope and confidence we need to keep asking. As I was reading Numbers 11, this morning, one of those mile markers came to mind.

The children of Israel were in the wilderness. God had provided manna each day to sustain them, had preserved their lives as well as their clothing, and led them by cloud and by fire. And they complained. They complained so bitterly, the Lord sent fire to consume some of them; Moses named the place Taberah, which means "burning." But their grief didn't stop. They pined for the exotic foods of Egypt; they literally wept for meat. Moses had enough, and Moses complained:

"Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them...? 

"Where am I to get meat to give to all these people?..."

Years ago, I was in a terrible marriage. My then-husband's infidelities, raising two children alone, working, homeschooling... I complained. Bitterly. Until one day, I decided it was time for my children and I to be free. Complaining wasn't going to do it. I had to trust God to take care of us; I had to follow Him to a better place -- but there was wilderness before. A wilderness of loneliness and exhaustion; a wilderness of testing my resolve and my faith; a wilderness of legal battles and family battles; a wilderness of lots and lots of mac and cheese.

There was a place in this wilderness called "Financial Dearth." After weeks of feeding my children the least expensive of foods -- processed, canned, boxed -- I wanted one thing and one thing only. I wanted meat for my children. Real meat, fresh meat. Complaining hadn't released me from my marriage, complaining hadn't brought me this far; I had to go to the only One who could. I stepped out onto the patio and with tears streaming, I prayed. "Lord, thank You for providing for us; but please, God, I just want fresh meat for my children. Where am I supposed to get meat for my children?"

That very afternoon there was a knock on my door. "Do you want any chicken?" There was some sort of explanation that came with it. My neighbor's brother worked -- blah, blah, blah, had given her a case of  -- blah, blah, blah. I'd heard very little after the initial question. Meat! God had given us meat! "Yes! Yes, I want meat!"

All I had to do was ask, and my question had been answered. Where was I to get meat for my children? Why, from my Father, of course!