One of the great blessings that I am aware of, but don’t thank God often enough for, is that I have never lacked for the necessities of life. The water I drink is clean. My house is always warm and dry. My refrigerator and cabinets are stocked full of food. God has provided for me.
When the Israelites left Egypt, they were going from the plentiful country, which the Nile watered for all their food, to a desert. A land of nothing. After 40 years of wandering, Moses gives this long sermon (Deuteronomy). He explains to them what took place the last four decades. God provided. He gave them bread nobody had ever seen before. Their footwear lasted. They had no blisters.
As Moses reminds the Israelites of God’s provision, he talks about testing, humiliation, teaching. God supplying all the Israelites’ needs was a long test for them. We know from the account of the desert wandering, that the Israelites often showed ingratitude and rebellion despite God’s miraculous care.
God’s provision can be a test for us as well. When I am praying daily, how often do I thank God for the joy of being alive, the good night’s rest I received the night before, my gracious and caring wife, my two wonderful children?
We often think that God’s pruning only occurs through periods of suffering. Whether this is a loss of a friend, family member, employment, financial security, relationship strife, God certainly uses these to prune away more of our selfishness and pride.
But He also may prune us when we have what we need. If I show ingratitude and displeasure with all the good He has given me, should that also not be pruned?
Verse 5 shows us His motivation. He is disciplining us as a good father disciplines his children. Not out of sheer pleasure of punishment, but to help them grow into what He wants to see in them.
For reflection:
- Read Matthew Chapter 4. Then read Deuteronomy 8:1-5 again. What similarities do you see between the Israelites and Jesus? What differences do you see?
by Kevin Kelly
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