Does God Bring Tough Times?
Deuteronomy 6:14-19
“ . . . . .Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. Deuteronomy 8:1-5 (NIV)
Pastor’s Blog
Unfortunately and fortunately (even though I hate it) it takes constant doses of pain, humiliation, and failure to keep me humble enough to submit to God.
Pride is the fundamental sin. Humility is the antidote. Unfortunately I’m not all that good at humbling myself. The moment I begin to become arrogant enough to think “wow, I’m pretty humble” . . .. well you get the picture.
In today’s passage (and throughout the entire Bible and therefore all of life) God is the actor, the initiator. He is willing to BRING HARDSHIP onto his “children” FOR THEIR OWN GOOD. He’ll inflict it until humility is regained. Why? We humans are safe and happy only when humbly submit to Father who knows best. We’re unsafe and miserable when free to put ourselves into the prison of doing what we want to do.
Jesus really liked this passage. His parents probably drilled it into Him. It was a comfort to him when he was facing hardship (his 40 days of temptation in the desert)
“Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth
of the LORD”
I think this means something like,
“Jeff you don’t live by what you feed your various appetites with. That stuff
doesn’t even satisfy while you’re indulging yourself (well maybe at the
moment)! But, Jeff, when you look back, don’t you get it, don’t you see it?
Those times when you just did what the Holy Spirit prompted you to do, you were
happy. Those were the Kodak moments!”
At least it means something like that.
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Pastor Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI am new to the church and would like to thank you for these blogs as well as a message outline. I always wanted to be a Bible reader but, it just seemed to confusion. Having an outline, (green book mark in bulletin), to follow week by week as well as these reflections has really turned reading the Bible into a practical and enjoyable habit in my life. Thanks. -Tim
As I said the other day, I learned to control my world as a response to a very unhappy chaotic childhood. The Lord's answer to my fears was to take each area of my life, that I held on to so very tightly and spent all my energy "protecting,"and put that aspect in jeopardy. Not only jeopardy, but somehow, a peril that there was no way I could affect a change or even influence. Then when He had my total attention, He took charge but never in a way that I would have! God's ways are not man's ways...
ReplyDeleteIn today's scripture, humility is not the only goal. True humility is His tool to test us and reveal the true motives of our heart. Because God already knows the true condition of our hearts, the results of this test are for our own use. Wise King David said it in Psalms 139:23-24. The heart test is for a believer, for discipline, training and ultimately our love.
ReplyDelete