Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Trials of Trust
Pastor Scott
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
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"Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;"
(Deuteronomy 8:16)
Exodus 16, verse 4 says, "Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they walk in my law, or no." What was the reason for the manna? You might say, "To feed the people." No, God could have sustained them without food. He sustained Moses without food and water, and he could have sustained them without food and water. The reason for distributing the manna in this way was to prove or test the people whether they would trust God or not. God said, "You can only gather this much, and it will come daily." What will a man in the flesh naturally do? He will take a little more "just in case." The purpose of any trial we experience is to reveal whether we're going to believe the Word of God or not, whether we're going to accept God's promises to us.
What kind of a trial are you in today? It doesn't matter what it is or how you're going to categorize it. If you begin to really analyze where you are, there's a core issue. Are you going to do it your way, or are you going to do it God's way? Are you going to boast in the Lord and be thankful for what you have, or resent what you don't have? Are you going to rejoice in the goodness of God even though you can't see any good? Or are you going to judge by what you see and understand? You need to say, "Though He slay me, I'm going to love Him; I'm going to trust Him; I'm going to serve Him."
The trials are to prove what is in your heart and whether you're going to keep the Word or not. "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger..." (Deut. 8:3). God will allow you to become uncomfortable. God many times will suspend promises that were made. People can get into a lot of problems during these times. They might say, "God has promised and He has to do this." God will not feed you to your detriment. God would rather let you be hungry and know your own heart than to be content, full, fat and say, "I have need of nothing." It's very important to grasp that principle.
Verse 16 of Deuteronomy 8 goes on to say, "Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end." The reason God allows us to experience these temptations, tests and trials is to do us good in the latter end. The chastening of the Lord is to cause us to endure unto salvation. The chastisement of God works the peaceable fruit of righteousness in us.