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The Purpose of Testing (Humility Month: Part Two)

The Purpose of Testing (Humility Month: Part Two)

Last updated on: June 28, 2024 at 9:48 am by M. Scott Coffman

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The Purpose of Testing (Humility Month: Part Two) 2024-06-28T09:48:36-05:00 M. Scott Coffman

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Remember how the Lord your God has led you in the desert for these forty years, taking away your pride and testing you, because he wanted to know what was in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands. Deuteronomy 8:2(NCV)

Most of us don´t enjoy being tested. However, there is always a purpose for the testing, even if we don´t see it.

The Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land should have only been about a five-day journey across the desert. Make it nine if you take the mountain path. But Moses and company took 40 years to make the journey.

Why did it take so long?

Was it because Moses didn´t stop to ask for directions? Could they not get a signal on their GPS in the wilderness?

No, it was because when they arrived at the border of Canaan, they sent ahead one leader from each tribe to spy out the land for 40 days. Joshua and Caleb brought back a good report, but the other ten?

But the men who had gone with him said, “We can’t attack those people! They’re too strong for us!” So they began to spread lies among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored is one that devours those who live there. All the people we saw there are very tall. We saw Nephilim there. (The descendants of Anak are Nephilim.) We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that’s how we must have looked to them.” Numbers 13:31-33 (GW)

This provoked one of the greatest rebellions in human history. Israel was literally at the doorstep to the Promised Land, against all odds, and they acted like a possum that gets two steps from the other side of the road it was crossing, then panics and runs back toward where it started, only to find itself crushed under the wheels of a 1982 Chrysler Cordoba (true story!).

Needless to say, God was not amused.

You must wander in the desert like nomads for forty years. In this way you will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the desert.

“‘Since the spies were in the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, bearing the burden of your sins. I will teach you what it means to reject me. I, Jehovah, have spoken. Every one of you who has conspired against me shall die here in this wilderness.’” Numbers 14:33-35 (TLB)

As the crow flies, but not as the Israelite walks. (Map from Frank Zimmerman/flickr, altered by the author)

Fast forward 40 years. Every adult who heard that message, except Joshua and Caleb, is scorpion food in the desert. The children are all now grown with children and grandchildren of their own. They have arrived at the Jordan River, across from Jericho with everything except one piece of baggage—their pride.

Ten different times the Israelites put God to the test on the way to Canaan with their disobedience. So God gave the next generation one really long test to see what they were made of. Would they stand firm on God´s promises, or would they fold faster than an accordion at an Italian wedding?

You might think that 40 years of wandering in the wilderness is a bit harsh, but again, God had a purpose for this testing. Moses continues:

He took away your pride when he let you get hungry, and then he fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever seen. This was to teach you that a person does not live on bread alone, but by everything the Lord says. During these forty years, your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell. Know in your heart that the Lord your God corrects you as a parent corrects a child. Deuteronomy 8:3-5 (NCV)

God punished, but He also provided, specifically in a way the people couldn´t have provided for themselves. He beat them down, but then He lifted them up. It was all an exercise in trust.

But alas, God knows that we are leaky vessels. We sure do remember His name when we need help and guidance, but when things are going great? Pride is right at the edge of the stage waiting to make its entrance.

This is why Moses went on to warn them:

When you have all you want to eat, then praise the Lord your God for giving you a good land. Be careful not to forget the Lord your God so that you fail to obey his commands, laws, and rules that I am giving to you today. When you eat all you want and build nice houses and live in them, when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase, when you have more of everything, then your heart will become proud. You will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. He led you through the large and terrible desert that was dry and had no water, and that had poisonous snakes and stinging insects. He gave you water from a solid rock…Deuteronomy 8:10-15 (NCV)

The Moral of the Story

It´s great to have the bad times in your rearview mirror, but don´t forget them. More importantly, don´t forget that you made it through them. MOST importantly, don´t forget whose help you would not have made it through without.

I have survived the death of a child, a divorce, the loss of several jobs, several failed businesses, COVID (three times), and a succession of presidents where each is trying to outclown the previous one (and mostly succeeding).

I am not bragging about my own strength, because absolutely none of that had anything to do with me. God seems to make a regular business out of keeping me humble. Probably because I need it.

I THINK I have finally gotten to a point where I have made voluntarily humbling myself a habit. This is not easy for me (and perhaps many of you) because of the trust issues I have, especially where authority is concerned.

And have I mentioned that I REALLY do not like to be tested? Anyone who knows me (especially my wife) can tell you that it doesn´t take a very severe break in my routine to send me off on a tear.

But any time I start thinking, ‟Why is this happening to me?” I remember that Moses already answered that question thousands of years ago:

He did this to take away your pride and to test you, so things would go well for you in the end. Deuteronomy 8:16b (NCV)

Here´s the bottom line. When God tests us, He intends for us to pass. He always wants to bless us. If the blessings seem to be delayed, that’s probably a good time to do a pride check.

(Come back for part 3 to find out what happens when you don´t. Click on the Free Newsletter Link so you don´t miss it!)

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June 14, 2024

Humility Month: Part 1--From Disgrace to Wisdom