Joel M Bradshaw

 2And 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. 3And 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^a that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. 6So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. –Deuteronomy 8

1. God’s plan was to REVEAL the attitudes of their hearts. God didn’t test Israel for his sake, but for theirs. They needed to see the attitudes they had maintained and the obedient life they did or didn’t live. This time of revealing comes when we are humbled by God. In my own journey, being diagnosed at an early age with MS greatly humbled me. Your 20s are not usually a time of physical weakness. But they revealed in me my need for God on a daily basis.
2. God’s plan was to GROW attitudes in their heart. The whole business with manna wasn’t about the miracle bread, but about trusting in God and depending upon Him. Jesus quoted this verse to Satan (Matthew 4:4) to not talk about bread but about the Father. Jesus trusted the Father to lead and to provide. He wasn’t worried about the bread. As I was humbled by God, I learned each day to trust him and to depend upon him for my strength and endurance. I needed that object lesson every day. God has grown them in me. They are now my greatest strengths. I trust God and depend upon him fully to provide.
3. God’s plan was to SHOW his power to lead and provide. Israel grumbled about the journey, but God made their clothes and shoes last the whole way. Had they stopped and thought of that? God provided miracle food and water. God uses our journeys to show his faithfulness to us. I remember an early season with my MS. I lived in a different state from my family in an apartment by myself. I had just come off of my parents’ health insurance and was making little money in the ministry. And God provided for me. A local hospital wrote off one of my MRIs, my expensive medicine came at a greatly reduced rate, and I had no flareups. I had one of the healthiest seasons of my disease thus far during the season which I was most vulnerable. I still marvel at how God provided for me.

Your journey may not be that fun right now. You may be tempted to grumble and grow bitter at God. But pay attention. God is revealing to you your heart. God is expecting you to grow. And God is showing his faithfulness to you. Embrace the humility and grow in trust and dependance! See your story be used for God’s glory! Even the harder, humbling parts.–JMB