Deuteronomy 8:3, "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live."
This is our third installment on the study of this verse. In this study, we will break up the third phrase and talk about three words, "and fed thee." With the first two phrases of God humbling His people and then afflicting them in hunger, we now see His great mercy.  This is a tender act of God for He did not just "provide" for them to eat, but He fed them. It is a precious thing to see a parent feeding a child or an adult child feeding their beloved parent in their old age. Here, it is God who is feeding His chosen people.
These three words tells us some important things about our wilderness experience.
God has not Forgotten. Never a moment did God forget about the hungering of His people. There was a ministry in the hunger that was meant to make them desire and depend upon God. Is there something that you wish you had? something that you crave? We are reminded in James 1:2-4, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." How is this for a mind blowing thought, God wants us to hunger so we will not need or want anything. David figured this out in Psalm 23:1-2, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters."  Friend, God never said He would not allow you to hunger. He said, He would provide your need. It is the Fleshly mind that thinks it needs anything. It is the Faith mind that says, I am satisfied with what God has given me. Even Psalm 37:4 tells us, "Delight thyself in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." God wants to give us the desires of our heart, but maybe not the way we think. He wants to give us the desires that we ought to have. What does He want us to desire? Himself. Psalm 22:26, "The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever." Whatever God has for me, is enough.
This may not satisfy our desire right now. Have you accepted the fact that perhaps your hunger is meant to develop your appetite and your diet to different things? Psalm 131:2, "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child." When babies nurse, they will nurse many different times throughout the day. Sometimes, they only eat for comfort. Perhaps God's work in your life is meant to train you to wait on Him and upon His schedule and not your own. You will find that the transference from nursing to meals may not be near as comforting for a while, and not near as convenient for yourself, but they are converting you and confirming you in the desires of your Heavenly Father.
God has not Forsaken. When we are hungered because we do not get what we want, it is easy for us to think that God has gone and it is up to us to meet our own needs. But when God comes to feed us, we are reminded that God still cares and that God is still working on our behalf. This is meant to quiet us in our spirit that we may trust in Him. Hebrews 13:5 says, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Our fears that God has forsaken us expose one of our biggest flaws in our relationship with God--lack of trust. Psalm 37:3 says, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Please don't allow your hunger cause you to fear and doubt about His love, His care, or His provision. Psalm 104:27-28 are meant to give us peace as we wait and trust, "These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good."