The 19th century tale of Hansel and Gretel tells the story of two impoverished siblings who are cast out into the forest and have the foresight to lay crumbs of bread along the way to mark the path back home. In the original German fairy tale, home was not a safe place, and nor was the forest. The breadcrumbs were eaten by birds and the children ended up almost being eaten themselves. Good comes in the end, though, as the children are reunited with their loving father, and those with ill-intent towards them are vanquished.

In recent years I have oft given thought to the picture of breadcrumbs being left in the forest to mark the way home. Simple provision, serving both as sustenance and guidance. Is this not entirely the way God deals with us? I have thought to myself Giving a morsel for us to consume, that also calls us home, unto him?

Over the last months these thoughts have merged with another story of people in a perilous place being fed and shown the way home. In Numbers we read the story of the people of Israel being led to the Promised Land, and being fed each day by manna, which miraculously appears for them to collect.

This manna has caught my attention.

The people of Israel were fed…but discontent. They wanted to store the manna up so that they didn’t have to collect it each day. They wanted something different, something that seemed tastier to eat.
It’s not difficult for me to imagine myself as a discontent Israelite, not appreciating the significance of what I was being given. Perhaps growing bored. Definitely wanting to fill the store cupboards with provision so that I know I can last a wee while without needing God to provide any more.

But God didn’t give them store cupboards so the they could last a wee while without needing him. No, God used to the daily provision of manna to communicate something profound:

Every day, for the rest of your lives, you need to look to me for everything you need.

It’s uncomfortable to have to live day-to-day, spiritually hand-to-mouth, part of us resists it. And yet this is exactly the way God invites us to live: as baby birds who perpetually open their mouths to be fed.

Recently it has been my resolve to be really delighted with the manna. To choose to look for the provision – in whatever form – and take joy in it.
But sometimes it’s not as easy as that. Sometimes the manna is really hard to spot. There isn’t an aisle in the supermarket that blares out ‘Manna!’. Life is so cluttered. Noisy. Demanding. More often than not the manna can easily be overlooked.

And this is where Hansel and Gretel come in. In the darkness of the forest as they walked, noises, trees and peril all around them, their eyes strained to look for the one thing that would lead them home: the breadcrumbs on the path.

We are Hansel and Gretel, lost and in danger. Our Heavenly Father goes ahead of us in the forest and drops breadcrumbs of manna each day for us to eat and follow. His manna-breadcrumbs cannot be eaten by birds, nor stolen by thieves. We need not question whether they’re there, but we do need to train our eyes to see them.

I have found pausing in the evening to look back over the day invaluable in learning to recognise the manna. Sometimes it’s so hard to see things in the moment, but as we look back we re-remember ordinary events as being embellished with the divine. Sugarcoated with grace. Thankfulness sharpens our vision with a readiness to see.

These breadcrumbs of manna mean that though we face many forests or deserts or valleys, we can never be lost, and never truly be in danger. For we are children of a Good Father, who goes before us. Whose Spirit keeps on highlighting to us the manna of his grace. His provision. His protection. And let us not imagine anything meagre in these manna-breadcrumbs, for they are a feast. When we learn to see them we will find that we cannot help ourselves but see them everywhere. Liberally spread over every aspect of our lives: His love will lead us home.

Ros Boydell