How God Grows You in Hard Seasons

Wilderness Freedom: Exodus 16:1-15 and Why We Miss the Old Life

5-Day Devotional · October 2026

Amazing family,

Why do we miss our old life, the one God brought us out of? I can't make fun of anybody for this, because if I'm honest, I've done the same thing. Maybe it was a job that was wearing you down, or a relationship you knew wasn't healthy. God got you out. Then things got hard, and you started missing it. Psychologists call this the rosy view. When we look back, the past seems easier than it was. God built that into us so we would keep going, but it can also make us miss things that were hurting us.

Let's take a look at Exodus 16. One month after God brought Israel out of Egypt, the people got hungry and said, "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate our fill of bread." They remembered the food. They forgot that Egypt was where they made bricks as slaves and where their sons were drowned in the Nile. Hunger made Egypt look better than it was. God didn't punish them for it. Before anyone apologized, He sent bread from heaven. In the morning the people saw it on the ground and asked each other, "What is it?" They didn't recognize what God had given them because it didn't look like what they remembered. Deuteronomy 8 says God let them get hungry so they would learn that we do not live by bread alone. Growing with God is often uncomfortable, and that's usually when the old life starts to look good. The enemy only works that hard on people going somewhere.

Read one devotional each morning this week. Each day takes one part of Exodus 16 and asks you one question. Keep a written list of the times God has come through for you, and add to it every day. By Friday you'll have a true record of what He has done, one you can share with your children.

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DAY 1 - When Memory Lies

Exodus 16:2-3 · NRSVUE

"The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, 'If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.'"

It took one month. Israel had walked out of Egypt after 430 years and crossed the sea on dry ground. Then the food they carried out with them ran out, and the whole congregation turned on Moses and Aaron and said they wished they had died back in Egypt.

Look at what they remembered. They remembered sitting by pots of meat and eating their fill of bread. They did not remember that Egypt made their lives bitter with brick and mortar, or that Pharaoh had their sons drowned in the Nile. The pots of meat and the brick quota came from the same table.

Psychologists call this the rosy view. When we look back, the past seems easier than it was. You left a job that was wearing you down, or a relationship you knew wasn't healthy, and a few hard months later you catch yourself missing it. Missing it doesn't mean going back would be right. It usually means you are tired and hungry, and that is when your memory is least reliable.

"Your memory is lying to you. It's telling you the Egypt in your life was your home."; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Reflection

Is there a season you have been missing lately, and what did it actually cost you?

Prayer

Lord, I confess I have missed things You brought me out of. Help me remember the whole story, the cost along with the comfort. When I'm tired and hungry, keep me from rewriting what You saved me from. Thank You for bringing me out on purpose. Amen.

DAY 2 - Hungry on Purpose

Exodus 16:4 · NRSVUE

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.'"

God's answer came before anyone apologized. Israel complained, and the Lord told Moses He was going to rain bread from heaven. He did not wait for the people to get their attitude right first. He fed them.

He also did not take the hunger away for good. The bread came one day at a time, enough for that day, and God said that He was testing them. Deuteronomy 8 looks back on those years and says God let them hunger and then fed them with manna, so they would learn that one does not live by bread alone. God let them get hungry on purpose.

This is the uncomfortable part of growing with God. The hard season is often where He teaches you to depend on Him instead of your paycheck or your plan. Jesus was hungry in the wilderness too, and when He was tempted to turn stones into bread, He answered with that same verse from Deuteronomy. Being hungry did not mean God had left Him, and it doesn't mean God has left you.

"The hunger wasn't proof he had left them. It was their classroom."; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Reflection

What might God be teaching you in this uncomfortable season that you could not have learned when things were easy?

Prayer

God, I don't like being hungry, and I don't like waiting. Help me believe You are using this season. Give me enough for today, and teach me to trust You with tomorrow. Amen.

DAY 3 - Standing on Your Answer

Exodus 16:14-15 · NRSVUE

"When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, 'It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.'"

The next morning the dew lifted, and the ground was covered with something fine and flaky. The people looked at it and asked each other what it was. They had been begging for food, and when God sent it, they did not recognize it.

In Hebrew, that question, "What is it?", is where the word manna comes from. The bread from heaven was named after the people's confusion. They were looking for the bread they ate in Egypt. God sent them something they had never seen before, and it took Moses to tell them what it was.

You prayed for a bigger job, and God gave you a smaller one with time at home for your family. You prayed for a relationship to be fixed, and God gave you the strength to walk away. When God answers differently than you asked, it is easy to walk right past it. Later in the chapter we learn the manna tasted like wafers made with honey. They asked for the food they remembered, and God gave them something better.

"You're standing on your answer, church, but some of us just need to bend down and pick it up."; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Reflection

Is there an answer to prayer in your life right now that you haven't recognized because it doesn't look like what you asked for?

Prayer

Father, open my eyes to what You have already given me. Forgive me for overlooking Your answers because they didn't match my plans. Teach me to say thank You before I fully understand it. Amen.

DAY 4 - Keep the Jar

Exodus 16:33 · NRSVUE

"And Moses said to Aaron, 'Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.'"

God gave Moses an unusual instruction. Put an omer of manna in a jar and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread God fed them in the wilderness. That jar was later kept in the Ark of the Covenant, right next to the tablets of the law.

God knew His people would remember Egypt wrong, so He gave them a physical record. If they had looked in that jar forty years later, it would have told them the truth. God never let them go a single day without bread, through all the complaining and forty years of wandering. The manna stopped only the day after they ate the food of the promised land.

Our phones remember everything, and still we forget what God did for us last year. David didn't walk up to Goliath on optimism. He told Saul about the lion and the bear, the times God had already saved him. Write down the specific times God came through, like the month the rent got paid or the morning the doctor walked out smiling. Then tell your children the true version, with the hard parts in it.

"Egypt threw away the bill, but God told them to keep the receipts."; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Reflection

What is one specific time God came through for you that you could write down today?

Prayer

Lord, thank You for every time You came through for me, including the ones I've forgotten. Help me write them down and tell them honestly. When fear comes back, let me read what You have already done. Amen.

DAY 5 - God Is Already There

Exodus 16:10 · NRSVUE

"And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud."

Read this verse slowly. While Aaron was speaking to the people, they turned and looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. They were looking at the place they were afraid of, the empty land they were sure would kill them. That is where God showed up.

God was not back in Egypt. He was not waiting at the edge of the promised land for them to finally get there. He was in the wilderness with them, and He had been there the whole time. Most of us, if we're honest, are in some kind of wilderness right now.

The wilderness also means you are moving. You have left what held you, and you are headed toward what God promised. That is part of why this season feels so hard. The enemy only works that hard on people going somewhere. Hold on a little tighter this week, read your list from yesterday, and remember that God is in this season with you.

"I don't want to be the delusional church and tell you there's no wilderness. I want to tell you hold on a little tighter because God is there with you in that wilderness."; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Reflection

How would this week look different if you believed God is already in the place you're afraid of?

Prayer

Father, thank You for meeting me in the wilderness instead of waiting for me to get out of it. When I'm tempted to look back at Egypt, turn my eyes toward where You are. Give me the courage to keep walking toward what You promised. Amen.

A Prayer for the Week Ahead

Lord, this week You showed us how quickly we miss the life You brought us out of, and how patiently You answer us anyway.

When we're hungry and the old life starts to look good, remind us what it really cost. Open our eyes to the answers already in front of us.

Help us write down what You have done, and give us the courage to tell our children the true version, hard parts included.

You were with the generations before us in their wilderness, and You are with us in ours. Let the people who come after us inherit a record of Your faithfulness that tells the truth.

Amen.

The Conversation Continues

We'll see you Sunday at 10am, 3549 Middlefield Rd in Palo Alto.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kaloma