Tested

One of my favorite sections of Scripture is in Deuteronomy chapter 8. It is here where we learn about how God tests us. “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you, and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know, that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mount of the Lord.” (great verse to memorize)

What a great God we serve! He loves us so much that he allows us to go through wilderness experiences in order to “make us know” how to live according to his Word. Why? The text continues: “Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.”

Why does He discipline us? “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.”

I think that covers the why! Our great and loving Father allows us to go through wilderness experiences…sometimes for years….to prepare us for the abundant blessings He has prepared for us…brooks of water, fountains and springs…all for us (think of this in spiritual terms today…abundant life…fruit of the Spirit, restored relationships). The amount of time we spend in the wilderness is totally dependant upon our willingness not to resist what God is trying to teach us…He is taking the Egypt out of our lives so that He might be able to bring us in to the Promised Land! The journey is worth it…don’t lose heart.