Growing Closer to God in Difficult Times – Deuteronomy 8:1-5

Deuteronomy 8:1-5 is full of encouragement to strengthen us and help us see the purpose of difficulties in our lives.

Deuteronomy 8:1-51 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.

v. 1 – SettingWhat’s going on in this scene? The Israelites were on the border of Canaan, the Promised

Land that God intended to give to them. Moses was about to pass the leadership to Joshua and a new generation of Israelites.

40 years earlier, God wanted the Israelites to enter to take the land, but they rebelled against Him. Only Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter—all the rest died in the desert. (Numbers 13 and 14)

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.

Moses repeated one thing over and over as he said his long goodbye to the Israelites: “Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today.”

Christians must also be careful to follow God. In Acts 9:2, believers are called “followers of the Way,” before they ever had the label “Christian.” Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Today, for us as Christians, we fulfill all God’s requirements if we follow Jesus by the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit will lead us to naturally fulfill God’s law.

Moses said the purpose of this following was blessing. He describes abundant life in health (life) and prosperity (increase). Not only that, but the Israelites would thereby be able to fulfill God’s calling for them.

God had given the Israelites a vision of the Promised Land, where He wanted to take them. We read in Judges 2 that as long as the Israelites held onto and pursued that vision, they

were successful and lived under God’s blessing. But, once they had settled down, they compromised the vision and backslid.

We cannot compromise the vision that God has given our church. We must pursue it fiercely. We want to build glorious churches, holy and blameless, for Jesus.

v. 2-5 – Testing, Humility, and TeachingMoses asks the Israelites to reflect on their experiences in the desert. We should similarly

reflect on difficulties in our lives. Ecclesiastes says, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.”

Moses says that God had three purposes for the Israelites in the wilderness:

1. Testing. v. 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.

God knows our hearts, but He still tests us. I don’t know why God does it this way, but He consistently uses testing. Maybe it’s because when we choose to obey God in the face of struggles, then we please Him and glorify Him. God allows difficulties to test our faith or character.

God gives us tests in order to help us grow. He never intends to destroy us, but instead wants us to pass the test and receive blessings from Him. There are many instances of God testing His people in the Bible. Interestingly, the number “40” has special significance as the number of long testing and trial: 40 years of the Israelites wandering in the desert, 40 days of raining during the flood, 40 years of Moses exiled from Egypt, and 40 days of Jesus’ fasting,

Some things to notice about testing:a. When God tests us, He takes us out of our “comfort zone.” He pushes us in ways that He

wants us to develop. For example, if we are very forgiving and loving people, but not very disciplined, then God may test us in some way that we can learn to be disciplined. Or, if we are very responsible and trustworthy, but not very forgiving, then God may test us in order to make us more forgiving people.

b. God tests us in ways that seem difficult and painful. Whenever a child goes to the doctor’s office, they are afraid of possible pain, but their parents know what is good for them. In the same way, God also knows what is good for us.

c. He will not give you more than you can stand.1 Corinthians 10:12-13 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

d. Sometimes, testing doesn’t seem fair. God asks you to wait for something good. Or, He takes away something that you wanted without promising something better. And, sometimes, it requires endurance. Passage from “A Horse and His Boy.”

a. “Are—are—are you," panted Shasta. "Are you King Lune of Archenland?" The old man shook his head, "No," he replied in a quiet voice, "I am the Hermit of the Southern March. And now, my son, waste no time on questions, but obey. This damsel is wounded. Your horses are spent. Rabadash is at this moment finding a ford over the Winding Arrow. If you run now, without a moment's rest, you will still be in time to warn King Lune." Shasta's heart fainted at these words for he felt he had no strength left. And he writhed inside at what seemed the cruelty and unfairness of the demand. He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one. But all he said aloud was:"Where is the King?" The Hermit turned and pointed with his staff. "Look," he said. "There is another gate, right opposite to the one you entered by. Open it and go straight ahead: always straight ahead, over level or steep, over smooth or rough, over dry or wet. I know by my art that you will find King Lune straight ahead. But run, run: always run."

e. Paul used this method (2 Corinthians 2:9) and prescribed it (1 Timothy 3:10). Don’t be easily offended if your church leader asks something difficult of you. We should not ask difficult things of people for kicks; there must be a good reason. But the decision is a test for you from God, to see whether you will obey.

a. Testing is a requirement for promotion. It is a qualification. Paul asks that church leaders be tested first before given a position of authority.

f. God tested Abraham (Hebrews 11:17). God tested Moses, giving him his own 40 years in the desert before the Exodus.

g. Jesus endured testing in the desert for forty days, and also in His final 24 hours. Hebrews says that Jesus “learned obedience” and was “made perfect” through suffering. Even though He was the Son of God, He had to pass the test.

h. Finally, testing is for sons and daughters. God wants you to grow up. “Every father is delighted in his son’s first steps, but none is satisfied until his son walks with a free and firm step.”

Testing is difficult. It requires our effort and courage to face difficult situations. But remember you can do it because God is with you.

Psalm 23:1-41 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, [1] I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

2. Humility. v. 3He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna …

Another thing that God does during hardship is humble us so that we depend on Him. Paul received a revelation from God when he prayed for God to remove a difficulty in his life. God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” God let Paul see how our frailty means His strength. “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

It is so easy for us to become proud, especially when things are going well. God wanted the Israelites to always remember their time in the desert, when God provided for them miraculously time after time. That is why He commanded that a jar of manna be kept in the ark along with the Ten Commandments—so that they would remember God’s grace.

Deuteronomy 8:10-1810 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

We should always remember to give the glory to God and to depend on God for everything—especially in our ministry.

3. Teaching. v. 3-5He 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.

God taught the Israelites faith through their hardship. Before, their minds were solely on physical, worldly things. But after 40 years of following the cloud and pillar of fire, and

gathering and eating bread from heaven, the Israelites started to learn that God’s words were their life, not the pots of food that they enjoyed in Egypt.

Exodus 16:1-51 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

God taught the Israelites through manna. Each day, the Israelites experienced the miracle of manna. They could not store it—it would rot. They had to depend on God to provide every morning, which He did faithfully.

In this way, God taught the Israelites that His very word, His spoken word—this word contains creative power that is enough for them. His promises are not just words written on a page, but living and powerful words for our current situation. We can depend on God’s promises daily.

ConclusionI hope these words today comfort those of you who are going through difficulty. Have

faith! God will keep you and sustain you. He will never leave you or abandon you. My prayer is not that we suffer, but that if we go through hardship, we will benefit from it

and not become like the Israelites whose bodies dropped in the desert. Don’t be unbelieving and faithless people, but instead be people that humbly wait on God and learn from God.

Psalm 126:4-64 Restore our fortunes, LORD, like streams in the Negev. 5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.