Deuteronomy 8 - God Alone

Who is the master if your destiny?  Who provides for you needs?  As we are in great need we are prone to look to God for our provision and even perchance attribute that provision to God's intervention in our lives. God showed us a need and as we prayed to Him we saw His hand of provision. I believe most Christians can do that for short term needs, particularly if God rescues us soon. But what happens to us in different circumstances?  

Abundance

When things are going well and we have no perceived needs can we praise God with our whole hearts?  God was about to release the Israelites into the promised land with abundance of crops, water and resources. "A land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills." Deut. 8:9. Israel had just won the lottery of God (it was rigged by the way, the winners were selected in advance). They would enjoy abundance when all their lives they had lived moment to moment (most had been born since the Exidus from Egypt). God knew their nature (and ours).  

He wanted His people to thank God for their provision even in abundance, but human nature likes to take credit when things go well. "You may say to yourself, 'My power and strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.'" Deut 8:17. Only wealthy men claim to be self made men. Rarely do you see a beggar taking credit for his condition. We too need to guard our hearts so they are not deceived when we enjoy abundance. It is God alone who provides even the wisdom we possess and the strength of our hands is from God. 

Discipline

When God seems to be against us and nothing goes well, can we praise Him then?  Maybe we are in a wilderness of our own with great thirst, hunger and venomous snakes everywhere. Maybe we are out of work, facing some horrific pain or up against a seemingly vicious foe. Will we continue to pray and praise when our suffering continues for an extended period as it did for the Israelites in their 40 years of wandering?  

Will we thank God when we are disciplined by His hand?  "Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so The Lord your God disciplines you." Deut. 8:5. God chastises His people to turn them from wickedness and to teach them to place their trust in the Master of their destiny. Can we praise even when hard times are also long?  It is a test of our faith, but as we look to God day by day, He can give us His thinking and change our hearts to lovingly praise Him in all conditions. 

Paul said it best when He wrote to the Philippians, "for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  Phil. 4:11a - 13. 

May God richly bless you as you seek Him and as you serve Him.