I’ll admit, I don’t typically spend a lot of time in the book of Exodus. But the other day I wound up there, and a particular story really struck me.

Just one month after God rescued the people of Israel from a life of slavery in Egypt, they were journeying through the wilderness and grumbling the whole way.

Have you ever prayed and prayed for God to give you something—or take something away—and when it finally happens, you rejoice for a whopping 24 hours before finding something else you’re dissatisfied about?

I have. So I can relate to the Israelites. Even though they were just set free from years of bondage under the Egyptians, they soon found something else to complain about. In this case, it was food. They missed the meat and bread they used to eat in Egypt, and they weren’t digging the wilderness fare.

Despite their ungrateful attitudes, God actually blessed them by granting their wish.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.” (Exodus 16:4, NIV)

Every morning, the people woke up to find a fresh batch of wafers (manna) and quail. They could gather as much as they wanted. There was just one stipulation:

Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

There was only one rule. Just one. And the people couldn’t keep it.

Even though God promised to provide for them every morning, the Israelites didn’t trust Him enough to believe and obey.

These are people who had seen the Lord in action. They saw the plagues He brought against the Egyptians with their own eyes. They watched Moses part the Red Sea right in front of them. And they saw loads of manna and quail supernaturally appear overnight. But they still felt the need to stockpile some of it. Just in case.

Is any of this striking a nerve? The story may be thousands of years old, but it shows a fascinating and timeless truth about human nature.

We find it extremely difficult to trust God, even when years of experience tell us He won’t let us down.

This is my takeaway from the story of the manna and the quail: we need to decide every day to trust God. Because He took care of His people then, and He still takes care of His people today.

“Sure,” you may be thinking. “I could easily trust God if he literally dumped food on my doorstep every morning. But He doesn’t do that anymore.”

Fair enough. I’ve never woken up to a pile of fresh bread and birds, either, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t provide for my needs.

Notice I said “needs”—not “wants.”

The Bible is chock-full of promises that God will provide for us.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, NIV)

He gives food to those who fear him; he always remembers his covenant. (Psalm 11:5, NLT)

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? (Matthew 6:26, NLT)

It’s so easy to take God’s provision in stride, constantly moving onto the next need or want and forgetting everything He has already done for us. We find ourselves thinking about how we’ll afford this or that next week, next month or next year. Meanwhile, all God wants is for us to trust him today.

We may not live in a world where manna and quail literally rain down from heaven. But we can still keep a “bread and bird” mentality, trusting God to provide for us one day at a time.