"...And [He] fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did He do for them" (Mosiah 7:19)

All these fun adds about "Got...", "Got...", "Got...". Well, I've been thinking about getting and what it is I really want to get and have I "got it". In a conversation with a friend we were discussing the Israelites and manna. They were provided daily with manna and could not gather more than was sufficient for the days needs (see Exodus 16). Ironically enough, manna translates to: "What is it?" (Bible Dictionary: Manna). So I ask myself, what is it I really want? And am I willing to gather all I need to "get it"? Or am I always looking for more?

I then began to think about manna as a miracle, for that is really what it was. God provided food for the Israelites daily when they were wishing they were back in Egypt "[sitting] by the flesh pots, and when [they] did eat bread to the full" and complaining of their deliverance saying to Moses, "for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (Exodus 16:3). I know I would have complained if there was no food. If I am even a little hungry I get "hangry", that's angry and hungry at the same time. Not a good combination. As I write this I realize I don't want to be "hangry", I want to be grateful...I want to get thankful. "Got gratitude"?

God is so merciful in His reply to the complaints of the Israelites: "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no" (Exodus 16:4). God does provide- and not just sometimes. He provides every single day! But sometimes I am just too busy looking for what I don't have that I don't see what is being given and provided daily. God's message to them was this: "At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God" (Exodus 16:12). They ate "manna" every day, bread from the Lord.

This leads me to asking what "manna" have I received from the Lord this day? Or "Got manna"? All too often I probably take what really is a miracle as coincidence, or luck, or it's just how things are. But in reality, these small day to day "coincidences" are miracles. One daily miracle in my life is to gather our family together for dinner. What an incredible gift to spend time with my loved ones, hearing about their day, their thoughts, and who they are. What a miracle to be able to get a drink of water from the tap, and add ice to the glass! I don't have to walk to the well to gather water every day. What a miracle that I can read and study the scriptures and the voice of the Lord's prophets with the touch of a button (scriptures found here; Teachings of the Prophets found here).

These may seem like no big deal, but when I start thinking about all the "small and simple things" (Alma 37:6) that make my life so easy and incredibly blessed, it is truly "bread from heaven" (John 6:31). I love what King  Limhi says about manna: "Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did He do for them" (Mosiah 7:19). God provides manna for us every day that we "might not perish in the wilderness".

So I ask myself, "what is it" I really want to get? And you know what? I "Got Manna"! We all "Got Manna"! Let us open our eyes (see D&C 76:116-118), gather what is offered daily (see Exodus 16:4), because we are "fed...with manna that [we] might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things [does] He do for [us]" (Mosiah 7:19).