Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread. Proverbs 30:8

I sometimes dream about bread. Thick, crusty bread hot from the oven and smeared with butter! Then I come to my senses and realize I am a long way away from fresh bread, or a flour mill, or a wheat plant.

The bible talks about God providing for us and mentions daily bread many times. Perhaps most prominently in the Lord’s prayer. So where is my bread? If the bible is true should not God drop a steaming hot loaf of French bread (and a pound of butter) at my feet every morning?

There are examples where God directly provided food. When Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years God provided manna six days a week. When there was drought God provided Elijah, a widow and her son bottomless flour and oil jars; as long as the drought lasted they always had food. On several occasions Jesus fed a multitude with just a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.

My early days on the island were filled with hunger. There was nothing to eat, or so it seemed. Catch a fish with your bare hands? Try it some time. Gather fruit? What fruit, and how do you eat it and is it poison? Did I mention that everything has to be eaten raw until you figure out how to make a fire?

After while I figured out how to catch a fish, what fruit was good to eat and where you could find it. Fire becomes easy once you practice and plants provide “pepper” and the ocean provides salt.

My daily bread was all around and God did provide; but I had to work for it. This is the key point – God provides but we have to work for it.

Manna fell from heaven but the people had to gather it every morning. They had to grind it into flour and form it into bread and bake it. Doves provided meat but they had to be caught, cleaned and roasted. On the Sabbath day God did not provide anything to eat and so the people had to put some aside the other six days to carry them through the day of rest.

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Even Jesus’ meal had to distributed and cooked.

If I want to eat I have to gather food. I have to dry fruit and fish for the times when they are not available.   The food supply has to be managed so it continues to provide. I cannot eat all the fruit or there will be no more new trees. I cannot eat all the fish or oysters or there will be no babies to eat in the coming months or years.

I have to work to eat.

That is a good thing! Why?

Work keeps my body healthy. Climbing trees or chasing fish keeps me in shape. IF I just sat around all day waiting for the pizza delivery boy I would get fat and weak. How would I deal with an emergency if I was fat and out of shape?

Work keeps my mind healthy. When I am working I am not thinking about how lonely I am or how much I miss the world. The days go by faster when you are working. The nights are easier when you are good and tired. There is a deep satisfaction consuming a meal given by God and created from the labor of your hands!

God wants me to work but there is one thing I am missing on the island. When the Israelites gathered manna from the fields they gathered extra for those unable to gather for themselves. The very old, the sick, small children all shared in the harvest. Just as God shares His labor with us we a meant to share our labor with others. God wants us to work and He wants us to share our work with others.

When Elijah arrived at Zarephath he saw the widow gathering firewood and asked her for water and bread. The widow was gathering wood to cook a last meal for her son and then to die of starvation. They had no more food and certainly had nothing extra for strangers. But the widow took the last of her food and prepared a meal for Elijah – she shared her labor with a stranger. Then God blessed her with “daily bread” until the famine was over.

We become like God when we labor and share in that labor with those around us. Even the poor are expected to work – God instructs farmers to leave some of their crop in the field so the poor can gather the “gleanings”. In this way they too work and can share with someone else who is more poor than they are. I guess somewhere in the world is the poorest person and maybe they don’t have to work but everyone else should.

So God provides and I work to gather. But my work is for me alone because there is no one here to share with. That is the worst thing about being on an island. I cannot fully follow God’s example because I am alone.