Living in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
September 16, 2014
Scripture Reading: Exodus 16:2-15 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.
–Exodus 16:4
The story in Exodus 16:2-15 illustrates that what God provides is enough, which is a hard thing for us to grasp. It means that if there is enough than there is plenty for all. Yet we do not live in a world where all have plenty.
The Creator of the world wisely considered the needs of all that live on this earth and brought forth in proportion to that need water, light, darkness, vegetation, trees, and creatures of all sorts, placing them together as an interdependent ecology. The ecology is only as plentiful as we are willing to let it be. And so we live in a nation where the government pays farmers huge subsidies ($6.7 billion in 2012*) for planting fewer crops so that the agriculture industry can be profitable, while 14.5% of families in the USA are classified as food insecure**. In 2013 we cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps, by five billion dollars***. This program was originally created primarily to assure that the agriculture industry could be profitable and almost as a byproduct addressed the needs of the hungry. Ten percent of farmers receive 75% of the subsidies so even this money is not distributed proportionately*.
I believe God is testing us to see whether we are following God’s instructions about gathering enough where everybody has enough. The answers are not easy but they may be easier than the complicated system described above. The best way to reduce the amount we spend on food stamps is to assure that everyone who works earns a living wage. When everyone earns a living wage, they will be able to buy the food they need to keep the agriculture industry profitable.
Oklahoma Fact: In 2012, 19% of children in Oklahoma lived in households that were food insecure****.
Prayer: Creator God, forgive us for failing the test of gathering and distributing enough. Amen.
* http://farm.ewg.org/region.php?fips=00000&progcode=total&yr=2012
**food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx#children
***http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3899
****http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/5201-children-living-in-households-that-were-food-insecure-at-some-point-during-the-year?loc=38&loct=2#detailed/2/38/false/1049,133,38,35,18/any/11674,11675
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.