Bread From Heaven

Often Marion Iverson had read the promise of Isaiah 33:l6, “Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure.” But she couldn’t find much comfort in it now.

Water? Yes, that was still sure, for she had managed to pay the water bill. But bread? She had none, and there was little money with which to buy some (although she hoped to purchase a loaf on the way home from work).

But all day she had sensed the Spirit of God talking to her about her part in the offering for the missionary service scheduled that evening: Give $5 tonight. She knew it was God’s voice. How she longed to obey, especially since she had experienced the glorious infilling of the Holy Spirit the evening before. She pulled out her checkbook and figured her balance. Yes, it was $5—and that was all.

But what about the bread? She had two young children to provide for. Her cupboard had never been full since her husband deserted her. After he left, she had accepted Christ as her personal Saviour and had managed to get a job. With difficulty she made ends meet.

“Lord, I’ll write the check right now and have it ready for tonight’s offering so I won’t spend it for anything else,” she breathed. And that night she fixed macaroni for supper. “Mama, kin I have a piece of bread with my ‘roni?” asked little Kevin. “Sorry, Honey, but there’s none in the house. We’ll try to get some on our way to church tonight, OK.”

And soon they were traveling the several miles to church. The headlights of her old car beamed down the highway. There was something in the road—not large, but bright. It resembled a bread wrapper. Marion pulled to a stop and stared. Do you suppose…? Could it be...? She ran to it, and found it was a loaf of bread, still wonderfully clean in its tightly sealed plastic wrapper. “Oh thank you, Lord,” Marion’s heart sang. And never had bread tasted so delicious as did that loaf when she and the children snacked after church---and again the next morning for breakfast.

The next day those words went through her mind again and again. “Bread shall be given him.” Yes, the promise was true. God will provide even if He has to send bread from heaven like the manna in the wilderness. The tempter whispered, “That loaf won’t last forever. Remember you put all your money in the offering last night, and payday is still a ways off.” But Marion refused to listen and rejoiced in the goodness of her Lord.

Imagine her surprise when she picked up her children after work and her baby-sitter came out carrying two loaves of bread. “Marion can you use these? I baked such a large batch of bread today and I don’t have room for it all in my freezer.” She could have shouted for joy! But something else happened the next evening. It was a special ‘breaking of bread’ service, and the church had provided several dozen of buns. There was a surplus and after the benediction the evangelist came to Marion and said, “Sister, we have a lot of bread left. Could you use it?”

So she carried home 150 buns. Her joys knew no bounds. Surely the promise was true: “Bread shall be given him”—not just for today, but for all the days to come.