The Manna in the wilderness was not exactly an answer to prayer (Exodus 16). Rather it was a compassionate leaning of God toward his grumbling people. Before long, they tired of this blessing and grumbled again, forgetting how it supplied their earlier "need" for food.
Be careful what you ask for! Their new craving for meat led God to supply more than what they needed, to the point of loathing and plague - all to make a point: "you have rejected the Lord." When we forget what God has done for us, His faithful provision for our needs and loving fulfillment of our desires, we plant the seeds of discontent. The culture of the Christian is formed and sustained by remembering; first by remembering the redemptive work of Christ, in the Supper, then by remembering the many blessings that are new every morning.
It is never the gift that we truly crave, but the Giver. Our loathing of things - whether food, jobs or people, thinly disguises our rejection of God. The way back is always the opposite of grumbling, a sincere seeking after God.
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