Fit for a Queen!
The year is 1985, and the small, newly independent nation of Belize receives a startling message–Queen Elizabeth II is coming to visit! The entire country scurries to make preparations to show off the best of what Belize has to offer and to leave the Queen with a memorable first impression. This would be her first time visiting the nation of Belize, who just a few years earlier gained full independence from the United Kingdom in 1981. No pressure, right? So what does one serve a visiting queen who has tasted nearly everything on the planet? It was an unusual choice, some may even say it was risky, but the Belizeans cooked up and served to her on a silver platter, a gibnut. If you’re asking what a gibnut is, I can tell you that this meat would never show up on the plate of someone from the upper classes, and certainly not on the Queen of England’s plate! Gibnut is a large rodent that looks like a super-sized brown rat with a spotted white coat. Yes, the nation of Belize served the Queen, a rat! Fair to say, that serving your most distinguished guest rat for dinner is a bit out of the ordinary. Since that time the gibnut has become the prize of Belize. Often referred to as the “royal rat,” it is considered a delicacy throughout the country.
In Exodus 16:4, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.”
This is one of those unbelievable moments in the Bible in a scene that we will see repeated over and over again throughout Scripture as a picture of how The Lord provides for His people on a daily basis. Having left Egypt, they are in need of food as their supplies begin to dwindle. They are desperate and helpless, fully recognizing there is nothing that they can do to better their situation, they cry out against Moses and Aaron.
How quick Israel is to forget the Lord’s goodness to them. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that He delivered them out of Egypt in spectacular fashion; He split the Red Sea in half right in front of their eyes and they walked across dry ground, not even a little wet, dry! After the last Israelite crossed to safety, He brought the waters down on the Egyptians who were chasing after them.
In this story, we see a reflection of ourselves that we don’t want to admit. How we have a tendency to forget the goodness of God in our lives, our tendency to doubt His love for us and our tendency to question his presence with us. Yet over, over and over again, God promises to provide. He desires for His children to trust Him–day by day, moment by moment, need by need. When our circumstances around us look hopeless, God wants us to have the faith and trust in Him to say, “Lord, I need you for this and I trust you to provide. Help me to trust in your goodness, to trust your grace, and to trust in your provision that you have promised.”
Let this transform your prayer life. As you get up in the morning, I encourage you to simply pray through your day. Open your calendar, walk through your schedule in a spirit of prayer. Pray for His provision and for Him to guide you throughout the day. There are all sorts of things coming today that you aren’t expecting, so pray for His provision in those things. To your surprise, what may appear to be a gross ugly jungle rat, may actually turn out to be the most delightful blessing of your day.
