Trials before great blessings

Deuteronomy 8:1-10 (NIV)
8:1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 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. 3 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 comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 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.
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

In today’s scripture, we can see the reminder of the trek through the wilderness for 40 years and how God humbled them in that time and journey. However, through it all, their clothes and shoes did not wear down and they had all they needed to survive. This is in accordance to the scripture to seek first the Kingdom of God and all things will be provided unto you. As they were obedient to God, they were blessed with a land that was abundant in all things.

Why did God create this situation?
We often ask God, “why did you put me in this situation?” Our scripture today assures us that even in the more dire circumstances, God has a reason and purpose for us.  In this way, we need to understand that our lives are at God’s mercy. The 40 years in the wilderness for the Israelites was God’s will. The scriptures tell us that will and reason. Let’s discover together why God puts trials and tribulations before us.

1. It is to humble us.
    Israelites ever have the abilities to do anything by their own strength?

2. It is to train us in faith and obedience.
     •  Exodus 15:26
     •  Numbers 11:31
     •  Exodus 17: 10
     •  Numbers 14:26
    1)  Faith and obedience of the window of Zarephath
    2)  What is faith?
        a. Faith is formed from hearing the word of God( Romans 10:17)(
        b. Faith begets acts of obedience (Genesis 26:5  
        c. Faith is to follow God’s will above my own will.(Genesis48:5)
        d. Faith is to refuse what must be refused(Heb. 11:24)
        e. Faith is to choose what must be chosen(Heb. 11:26)
        f. Faith is to have values and to be obedient to those values
          .(Mark 4:16,,28)
        g. Faith is to leave the path of condemnation.(Exodus 8:26,27)
        h. Faith does not fear man.(Exodus 14:13)
         i.  Faith is to look towards God always.(Hebrew 11:1)
         j. Faith is the path to salvation.(John 1:29)
     3) What is the obedience?
         a) With all your heart and with all your soul. (Deut. 26:16; 36:46_)
         b) To obey is better than sacrifice.( 1Samuel 15:22)
         c) he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.(Matt.7:21)
         d) I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in
               me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who
              loved me and gave himself for me.(Gal 2:20)
          e) Jesus Christ (26:42)
          f)  By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons,
             and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.(Heb 11:21)

3. It is to bless you.
     1) The widow’s olive oil(2 Kings 4:1-7)
     2) What is blessing
     •  Blessing is to receive what you need in overflowing abundance.
     • To receive God’s training is to be blessed.
     • To be able to entrust yourself to God(Psalms 2:12; 40:4; 84:12)
     • To receive forgiveness(Psalms 21:2)
     • To become a citizen of Heaven(Psalms 32:12; Matt. 5:2-10)
     • To be selected by God (Psalms 65:4; Ephesians 1:3,4)
     • To live in Kingdom of Heaven(Psalm84:4)
     • To be able to keep and carry out Justice
     • To be able to fear God and keep his commandments with joy
        (pslms 112:1; 128:4, 1)
     • To be able to persevere through trials and tribulations(James 1:12; 5:11)

Today is Thanksgiving day as the 4th Thursday of November. On this day, we must remember and give thanks for the love and grace and blessings that God has given to us throughout the year. On this day, those who are lonely, those who are outsiders, are welcome to join in feasting and together learning about the love of God.
My brothers and sisters, what do you have to be thankful for? Health, children, material blessings, all these things, give thanks to God at this time. God will multiply all blessings 100x, 50x, 30x for you.

Application

1. When we deliberately ignore the grace of God, God disciplines us.

2. Proverbs 30:7-9New International Version (NIV)

7 “Two things I ask of you, LORD;   do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;    give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
    and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’Or I may become poor and steal,
    and so dishonor the name of my God.

3. Let us always give thanks and go before our Lord with humility and as humble servants.