No Holes

Sitting in church on Sunday I found myself struggling to keep-up – again. And not with the message, I'm not that far along in Spanish yet, but with the passage the pastor was speaking from. I listened to him repeat the reference a few times. I got the numbers. Something 6:4.... But the book???

Finally the pastor said “Sh'ma”. Whew, Deuteronomy. I was glad to get that and feel that I would at least walk away having read the same verses as everyone else!

So I'm reading along following the chapters and verses the pastor is throwing-out and I read:

Deuteronomy 8: 4

“Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.”

I stopped. Moses has just come off Mt. Sinai with the first set of 10 commandments. The nation of Israel is standing there, 2 million people. He reads the commandments to the people and continues with a message. He tells them to love God, promises them a land to live in. Instructs on war and how they will drive the inhabitants out. Then he tells them not to forget God. Moses gives the people a reminder of the past as they are ready to embark on the future.

He reminds them how God took care of their physical needs. God fed them – manna. And God did not let their clothes wear out. Wow. Earlier this week I grabbed a pair of jeans only 2 ½ years old. They look worn out. There are stains on them and the knees are beginning to get holes. And the Israelite clothes lasted for 40 years? These people were wandering around in the dessert in long dresses. And not a frayed hem? It was dusty. I'm sure the kids were running, playing and falling on their knees. Did the moms realize these little miracles every day? No holes in the knees? Or maybe there was a hole and it just sort of fixed itself by the next morning.

I'm guessing it was hot too. It's a desert, right? After Chad goes for a run I can smell his clothes in the basket. I march into the closet, pick-up the shorts and t-shirt with my index finger and thumb and hang them in the bathroom by an open window to dry out. I really think God invented some wonder fabric that did not hold bad scents. Either that or he changed their noses and I don't read anywhere in the Bible where God plugged noses. But I do read that he kept their clothes from wearing-out for 40 years.

I asked my sister about this. “Don't you think they got a bit board of their clothes? I mean, they're wandering around so they don't have tons of extra space to carry a full wardrobe.” Ever practical her answer was “I don't think they had time to worry about their fashion Kris.” I don't know. They're still women, right? We also know them to be grumbling women. I think their clothes were one of the many things they grumbled about as they were plodding along in the desert.

So I guess it makes me wonder. Am I seeing the miracles God is doing daily in my life, or am I plodding along grumbling about them?