In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’S hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. . . When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.”

Devotion based on Exodus 16: 2-4,15

The future—what lies ahead—is totally unknown to us and often wildly unpredictable. But that doesn’t stop us from having feelings about the future. How do you feel about your future?

In his book Enlightenment Now, cognitive scientist Steven Pinker finds that majorities in fourteen leading countries believe the world is getting worse rather than better. Pinker goes on to say, “This bleak assessment of the state of the world is wrong.” Using statistical insights, Pinker shows that people are living longer, healthier, and happier lives.

So why aren’t we more optimistic? Just because things are getting better doesn’t mean they are good enough. Just because we have made improvements and advancements doesn’t mean we have achieved perfection.

For the Israelites, life was getting better than it had been. However, you would not know that from today’s Bible verses. Just one month earlier, they were all slaves in Egypt. They seemed to think they spent their days in Egypt gorging themselves. They even went so far as to suggest it would have been better if they had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! But their recollection of those days was incorrect.

Your life might not be everything you think it should be, but it is probably better than you realize. Give thanks to God for all the blessings from his hand. The Lord who loves you gave his one and only Son so that you might have life to the full. You can confidently say that the best is yet to come.

Prayer: