Hungering For God
Sunday, April 10, 2016 by Unknown
"Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and 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 ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but... on every word that come from the mouth of the LORD."
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
Moses starts out with the word-Remember...
Oh how hard it is to remember back on what the Lord has done for us when we were in pain yesterday, two months ago, 7 years ago, etc!
It's easy to forget how good He is to us.
But here Moses says to remember. Just that word alone should be enough for them to relive all that God did for them in the desert.
And it should be enough for us to say,
"Thank you Lord for all you have done for me! Help me to stop wallowing in my self pity and today, just remember your goodness and all you've brought me through!"
Then Moses says that the Lord led them for 40 years in the wilderness. Umm...am I the only one taking a big gulp right now? Remember (lol there is that word again!) when you were in preschool and you had to hold the person's hand in front of you as the teacher led you all to lunch or the library? I tend to picture this like that (although I am sure they weren't holding hands). But I do see that they had no ability to go out on their own and live. They were in the wilderness!
Remember.
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
Moses starts out with the word-Remember...
Oh how hard it is to remember back on what the Lord has done for us when we were in pain yesterday, two months ago, 7 years ago, etc!
It's easy to forget how good He is to us.
But here Moses says to remember. Just that word alone should be enough for them to relive all that God did for them in the desert.
And it should be enough for us to say,
"Thank you Lord for all you have done for me! Help me to stop wallowing in my self pity and today, just remember your goodness and all you've brought me through!"
Then Moses says that the Lord led them for 40 years in the wilderness. Umm...am I the only one taking a big gulp right now? Remember (lol there is that word again!) when you were in preschool and you had to hold the person's hand in front of you as the teacher led you all to lunch or the library? I tend to picture this like that (although I am sure they weren't holding hands). But I do see that they had no ability to go out on their own and live. They were in the wilderness!
RIGHT WHERE GOD WANTED THEM.
And this life that you are living right now, pain and all, is where God wants you, so that you will trust Him as He leads you.
Are you beginning to see why I love these two verses?
They weren't out there for a few days relying completely on God for food, shelter, water, shoes, clothes, etc...We are talking 40 years!
I'm not even 40 years old. That would mean for all of my life I would have been in a dry, hot desert not knowing where my next meal would come from or where we will pick up and move to tomorrow morning at dawn. These people were totally, 100% relying on God for everything. But...they weren't doing it very well.
God had a purpose for all those years.
I bet the people cried out daily,
I bet the people cried out daily,
"Why Lord, why do I need to go through this even one more day. I get it! You are in control. Now can we please have a place to stay?"
But God was at work, humbling their stubborn and unrepentant hearts. Just as He is today.
He did this... this leading, this wandering to test their hearts. The outer appearance means nothing! God is more interested in our motives. He never tempts us, no that's the devils job. But our Lord tests us! This should be sobering news. Our hearts are full of wickedness and deceit even though we tell ourselves we are good.
I'm sure the Israelites felt the same, sadly. They may have even said,
"...man does not live on bread alone but... on every word that come from the mouth of the LORD."
These are the same words Jesus used in His wilderness.
you see, bread is, well, a staple of most people's diets. We eat to survive, but this sentence completely throws that out the window. God sustains us! God! Not bread! Hunger for Him! For Righteousness!
It is His will in our lives that matter. He has chosen for you and I to suffer! And because of that, we need to look to Him for everything.
You will find that when you do look to Him for everything, your focus becomes a little more clear.
He has the answers!
He holds our future!
And...It's all for His glory and our good.
So let's return to my new, favorite word:
He did this... this leading, this wandering to test their hearts. The outer appearance means nothing! God is more interested in our motives. He never tempts us, no that's the devils job. But our Lord tests us! This should be sobering news. Our hearts are full of wickedness and deceit even though we tell ourselves we are good.
I'm sure the Israelites felt the same, sadly. They may have even said,
"But God, I'm good! I keep the commandments and all so why can't you just take us to the Promised Land already?"
We do the same thing. We think we are good! We think God owes us! How foolish we can be! Of course they couldn't keep the commandments (maybe outwardly) but God knew their hearts and He knows ours as well!
Our Pain, our suffering- God is using it to humble us and to draw us to Himself.
Each day out in the wilderness, God provided for them, but
only for that day
God was lovingly guiding His people and feeding and clothing them but they didn't see it like that. We do the same thing!
"God why do I have to suffer in this way?" All the while He is taking care of you and using your pain for a reason!
"He will never leave you or forsake you!" Praise Him for this.
Deuteronomy 31:6b
Then God tells them a profound truth. Incline your ear to hear:
These are the same words Jesus used in His wilderness.
you see, bread is, well, a staple of most people's diets. We eat to survive, but this sentence completely throws that out the window. God sustains us! God! Not bread! Hunger for Him! For Righteousness!
It is His will in our lives that matter. He has chosen for you and I to suffer! And because of that, we need to look to Him for everything.
You will find that when you do look to Him for everything, your focus becomes a little more clear.
He has the answers!
He holds our future!
And...It's all for His glory and our good.
So let's return to my new, favorite word:
Remember.
