Deuteronomy 11:15,16
“He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions…In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.”
The Jews went through very difficult times. The descriptions includes frightful things: serpents, scorpions and waterless deserts. They faced hostile nations, hunger, disentions and more. There were plenty of times when they were under great distress. They had to spend an extra forty years in the desert.
Why did they go through this? It was for their benefit. They had to learn dependance on God. Verse 16 says they needed to learn to be humble. We want to be independent. That’s our pride. The wilderness experiences drives that from us.
We go through our days and encounter difficult circumstances and distressing emotions. We seek to repair these through our own resources and/or the assistance of others. That’s fine. However, now that we’re in Christ, He is to be our primary helper and advisor.
This is great news, as He is all wise and loving. However, we often want to do it our way. Our pride interferes. He won’t force us, but we end up in a worse spot where we cry out for help. As time goes by our stubbornness lessens and our God dependance and trust deepens. His peace fills our hearts. The wilderness experiences are less scary.
The other possibility is that we don’t yield to Him. He will eventually let us have our way. Our resistance dulls our hearing, so His voice and ‘heart calls’ become more faint (Hebrews 5:11). His voice is still there, it’s us whose senses become calloused.
Lord, thank You that our best is in mind. Help us to trust You.