Deuteronomy 16:3
“You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.”
This is meant to a time of going without. The family is used to bread. It accompanies all their meals. Now they eat something as flat as a tortilla. They miss it.
It symbolizes their emergency flight from Egypt. They didn’t have time to pack or prepare meals. They left with what they could carry. This may have been exciting for some to be free. It was traumatic for those that needed to plan and the parents who had to think of providing for their kids.
We go through difficult times in our lives. As we are walking with Christ, He allows them. 1 Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you”. These are times when we are to trust. The Jews had to trust God for their food and shelter. We need to trust Him in our difficulties.
Some of the biggest difficulties teach us some of the most important lessons. To create big life change, there needs to be big events to move us. The Lord memorialized this one for the nation; unleavened bread was it’s symbol. We shouldn’t despise our difficulties. They may be teaching us great things. We may need to look back upon our difficulties differently. What did we learn? Those old lessons are to be kept. We should trust to the point that we are grateful for them.
Lord, thank You that You want to work in us. Help us to trust you with all of our lives. Help us to see Your hand in all our circumstances. Help us to be thankful.