Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Deuteronomy 8:3 He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceed from the mouth of the Lord.
LORD, TEACH US TO GIVE THANKS DURING THE BAD TIMES
You can see how human nature hasn't changed over the centuries. God made the Israelites totally dependent on Him. He put them into training to make them stronger -- not physically, but spiritually. Day after day He showed them that when they put their trust in Him they were blessed, but when they didn't trust Him they fell on their faces. They needed several wake-up calls, and because of His love for them, God allowed them to go through certain hardships. In tracing their history you’ll find that after each test their focus was readjusted to look to God instead of themselves or false gods.
God's love has not changed. He will also test you. He doesn't test people to find something out for Himself, but rather to show them what He already knows -- they are weak and need His help. So you should know in your heart that as a man chastens (disciplines) his son, so the Lord your God chastens you, (Deuteronomy 8:5). Just as parents will discipline their children out of love, so also the Lord disciplines His children. You probably have known children that received everything that they wanted. They become self-centered brats. You can see why God would choose at time to withhold blessings from His children.
God wants our focus to be on Him because only in Him do we have eternal life. Only in His Word do we find out that our Savior is Jesus and our salvation is a gift. Only in Him is there a love so deep that He gave up His Son into death that we may have life. God's goal is to get you to heaven and He will want to remove obstacles that stand in the way of that goal.
In bad times then, be thankful that God loves you. Be thankful that He wants to bring you to a land of promise -- not Canaan, not America, but your true home in heaven. Be thankful that even when things look the bleakest, God is at your side, and can take even the worst situation and turn it around for your good. If God did not care about you, then He would let you go. But since He does love you He wants you to have prosperity that you can handle, without losing your grip on the Gospel.
