{"id":2256,"date":"2024-06-16T07:37:11","date_gmt":"2024-06-16T12:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/truthmission\/?p=2256"},"modified":"2024-06-28T09:48:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T14:48:36","slug":"the-purpose-of-testing-humility-month-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/truthmission\/2024\/06\/the-purpose-of-testing-humility-month-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"The Purpose of Testing (Humility Month: Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Remember how the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your 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.\u00a0<\/em>Deuteronomy 8:2(NCV)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Most of us don\u00b4t enjoy being tested. However, there is always a purpose for the testing, even if we don\u00b4t see it.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why did it take so long?<\/h3>\n*** ** \u00a0<\/p>\n ** Was it because Moses didn\u00b4t stop to ask for directions? Could they not get a signal on their GPS in the wilderness?<\/p>\n ** \u00a0<\/p>\n ** 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?<\/p>\n ** ***\u00a0<\/p>\n " But the men who had gone with him said, <\/em>\u201cWe can\u2019t attack those people! They\u2019re too strong for us!\u201d<\/em> So they began to spread lies among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, <\/em>\u201cThe 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\u2019s how we must have looked to them.\u201d<\/em> Numbers 13:31-33 (GW)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 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!).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Needless to say, God was not amused.<\/h3>\n***** ** *****\u00a0<\/p>\n " 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.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Since the spies were in the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years\u2014a 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.\u2019\u201d<\/em> Numbers 14:33-35 (TLB)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/a> As the crow flies, but not as the Israelite walks. (Map from Frank Zimmerman\/flickr, altered by the author)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n***** ** \u00a0<\/p>\n ** 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\u2014their pride.<\/p>\n ** \u00a0<\/p>\n ** 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\u00b4s promises, or would they fold faster than an accordion at an Italian wedding?<\/p>\n ** \u00a0<\/p>\n ** 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:<\/p>\n ** *****\u00a0<\/p>\n " 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\u00a0Lord\u00a0says. During these forty years, your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell.\u00a0Know in your heart that the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your God corrects you as a parent corrects a child. <\/em>Deuteronomy 8:3-5 (NCV)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n God punished, but He also provided, specifically in a way the people couldn\u00b4t have provided for themselves. He beat them down, but then He lifted them up. It was all an exercise in trust.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This is why Moses went on to warn them:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n " When you have all you want to eat, then praise the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your God for giving you a good land.\u00a0Be careful not to forget the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your God so that you fail to obey his commands, laws, and rules that I am giving to you today.\u00a0When 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,\u00a0then your heart will become proud. You will forget the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.\u00a0He 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<\/em>\u2026<\/em>Deuteronomy 8:10-15 (NCV)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/h2>\n**<\/h2>\n** The Moral of the Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n********* ** \u00a0<\/p>\n ** It\u00b4s great to have the bad times in your rearview mirror, but don\u00b4t forget them. More importantly, don\u00b4t forget that you made it through them. MOST importantly, don\u00b4t forget whose help you would not have made it through without.<\/p>\n ** *********\u00a0<\/p>\n I have survived the death of a child<\/a>, a divorce<\/a>, the loss of several jobs<\/a>, several failed businesses, COVID (three times), and a succession of presidents where each is trying to outclown the previous one (and mostly succeeding).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 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\u00b4t take a very severe break in my routine to send me off on a tear.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But any time I start thinking, \u201fWhy is this happening to me?\u201d I remember that Moses already answered that question thousands of years ago:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n " He did this to take away your pride and to test you, so things would go well for you in the end. <\/em>Deuteronomy 8:16b (NCV)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u00b4s 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\u2019s probably a good time to do a pride check.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n (Come back for part 3<\/a> to find out what happens when you don<\/em>\u00b4t. Click on the Free Newsletter Link<\/a> so you don\u00b4t miss it!)<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Any time I start thinking, \u201fWhy is this happening to me?\u201d I remember that Moses already answered that question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5016,"featured_media":2268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,380],"tags":[1188,1191,1176,848,1179,1185],"class_list":["post-2256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exegesis","category-spiritual-growth","tag-deuteronomy-8","tag-dont-forget-gods-help","tag-fathers-day","tag-forgiveness","tag-how-do-we-obey-gods-commands","tag-where-the-israelites-wandered-for-40-years"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Purpose of Testing (Humility Month: Part Two)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Any time I start thinking, \u201fWhy is this happening to me?\u201d I remember that Moses already answered that question.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/truthmission\/2024\/06\/the-purpose-of-testing-humility-month-part-two\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Purpose of Testing (Humility Month: Part Two)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Any time I start thinking, \u201fWhy is this happening to me?\u201d I remember that Moses already answered that question.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/truthmission\/2024\/06\/the-purpose-of-testing-humility-month-part-two\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Truth Mission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100071593496538\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-16T12:37:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-28T14:48:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1779\/2024\/06\/testing-resized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"585\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"M. 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