"And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no."
Deuteronomy 8:2
Part 2
Yesterday:
“And thou shalt remember.”
We need to remember what God does in our lives for us. Through these personal stories, we teach our children the goodness, faithfulness, and love of God.
“All the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness.”
God let Israel into the wilderness for at least three specific purposes. He uses these in our lives also.
First reason: “to humble thee.”
God humbles His children as needed.
Today:
The second reason that God lets his children go through “wilderness experiences.”
2. “And to prove thee.”
I imagine that most of us do not like testing. Especially the kind of trial that bares our souls and shows what is in our hearts. This Hebrew word prove means “to test, try, prove, tempt”[1] (BDB). God wants to know how we will handle the test. Something as simple as the manna that God gave the Children of Israel was a test of their faithfulness to Him.
“Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no” (Exodus 16:4).
This “test” was a simple one. How did the Children of Israel handle it?…
God is good at turning up the heat and exposing our hearts.
“The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts” (Proverbs 17:3).
He allows our faith to be tested so that we may honor and glorify Jesus Christ all the more.
“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).
The third reason for “wilderness experiences:
3. “To know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments or no.”
Our God requires obedience. This reason for His testing us is to see if we will simply obey Him. His Word shows us what He wants us to believe/do. Do we listen to Him through His Word? Do we obey Him?
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
Believers, how are you doing when these three tests come into your life?
When He humbles you?
When He tests you?
And when He checks out your heart for your obedience?
Quote: “Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you” [2] (Andrew Murray).
[1]Brown, Driver, Briggs. Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] Andrew Murray (2016). “Humility: The Beauty of Holiness”, p.45, Aneko Press.