Roadmap for Life - Provision (Small Group Study)

Small Group Study, week commencing 5th July.

Click here for a PDF version of these questions.

Roadmap for Life: Provision

1. What experience do you have of God providing for you?

Read Exodus 16:1-4, 11-18.

2. This account of God’s provision for his people is set in the context of their grumbling. Notice how they created a fictional account of the ‘good old days’ (verse 3)! What does it tell us about God, that he responded to them despite their attitude?

3. God responded to their request for food with manna and quail. What does that suggest about how God provides for his people?

Note: There are perhaps three ways in which God provides food in this account. (1) Quail are small birds, not much bigger than sparrows, that migrate in vast numbers in the autumn. It is estimated that in 2012, during the autumn migration, 3.4 million birds were caught in northern Sinai and perhaps as many as 12.9 million in the whole of Egypt. God appears to have harnessed a natural phenomenon. (2) The manna has no natural explanation. This is a miracle. (3) The people had to gather the food themselves – it didn’t just materialise on their plates!

4. It is clear from the Scriptures that God provides much more than ‘just’ our need for food. Read the following verses. What does God provide? Does the verse say anything about how he provides?

·        Psalm 111:9

·        Acts 14:17

·        Romans 15:4

·        1 Corinthians 10:13

·        1 Timothy 6:17

·        1 Peter 4:11

Spend some time being grateful and giving thanks for what you do have. Then lift up to the Lord what you and others need at this moment.