You Can Do It

The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year. – Joshua 5:12 (NRSV)

In the Promised Land, it turns out, there’s no free lunch from heaven. God made manna rain down on the people just long enough to tide them over till they got to a place where they could do their part to provide for themselves. God gave the fertile land, and the people would now do the gathering, sowing, reaping, and all the rest to bring crops out of the ground and onto the table.

Do you remember having someone help you learn to ride a bike, holding on and running alongside until suddenly you realize they’ve let go and you are – incredibly – riding a bike all by yourself? Someone helped and held on until you figured out the pedaling part and found your balance.

Usually, a wobbly new bike rider doesn’t tell their helper to let go; the rider doesn’t realize they can do it alone. But the helper knows and lets go, and gives the rider the exhilarating sense of pride, freedom, and accomplishment that comes with knowing you can now ride down to the corner all by yourself.

Are you waiting for manna from heaven to solve your problems? Are there challenges holding you back in life because you don’t realize you can handle them? God is like the helper steadying the bicycle. God has given you what you need to survive and thrive. And God knows when to let you go, even if you don’t feel ready.

Prayer
I’ll trust you to know when to let me go. Amen.

About the Author
This devotional by Tina Villa also appears in OMG: Devotionals for Teens and Young Adults, a collection of devotionals intended to support readers in connecting with God at their own pace, in their own way. Order OMG here.