Joshua 5:11—12, “And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna anymore; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.”
After observing the Passover, and once they had finished the last installment of manna from heaven, the Israelites began to eat the fruit of the land. Both the manna from heaven and the fruit of the land were God’s provision to them. God provides in different ways for different situations. The manna was a miracle. The fruit was mundane. Both were God’s provision for moving forward. Our problem is that we are so often enamored with the miracle – or the idea of a miracle – that we take for granted, even despise, the mundane. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) illustrates this. The rich man was convinced that his five brothers would repent if one came back from the dead and preached to them. Abraham said that if they would not heed the Scriptures then neither would they listen to one risen from the dead.
Salvation is a miracle. Nearly every provision from God following that will be mundane (if one can call anything from God mundane). Consider what Alan Redpath wrote in his book Victorious Christian Living:
“Take stock of your life, my friends. Don’t be dependent on emotional excitement, spiritual thrills, and spectacular meetings. All these are the evidences of Christian immaturity; they are for the child in kindergarten. Do you long to be strong for God? Do you long to see Satan put to flight? Then eat the fruit of the land. Jesus fills the hungry with good things; He satisfies the longing soul, and He is yours today for guidance, for discernment…Leave the ABCs of the Christian faith and press on…in the land of blessing…taking new resources in our risen Christ.” (emphasis mine)
Think about it this way, there really is no such thing as ordinary when you are moving forward by faith behind an extraordinary God.
