The Rich King

One day, a man approached a rabbi to ask him a question.  "Rabbi," the man said, "when the Israelites were wandering in the desert for 40 years, why did God make them go out every single day to collect their food?  If God was going to supply them with manna from heaven, why didn’t he just give them a month’s supply, or a whole year’s supply, at one time?"

The rabbi responded with the following story: "There was once a rich king, and the king had one son.  And on one appointed day each year, the king would give his son enough money to last him the whole year.  It didn’t take many years of this before the king noticed that he only saw his son on one day each year."

At church on Sunday, the pastor was preaching about how just as soon as we get past one struggle in our lives, there is another one to meet us.  One of our first reactions is often, "God, why are you doing this to me?  Why am I faced with problem after problem in my life?"  Probably the most common response is that problems allow us to learn and grow, which is true, but in this sermon the pastor was emphasizing a different idea.

Like the rich king from the story, God wants to be close to us; he will provide for us, and he wants us to seek after him daily.  It’s so easy to be overly proud of our accomplishments and abilities; problems are reminders that we aren’t in total control of our lives -- God is, and we are dependent on him.