His Hand

He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Dt. 8:3

Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today, otherwise…your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Dt 8:11 & 14

There seems to be no middle ground. Either things are bad and I am whining or things are great and I grow spiritually lax, succumbing to the idolatry of relying on earthly things instead of God.

My immediate response to Deuteronomy 8 has always been to state that there are two things I need to practice: 1) quick learning so I can speed through each trial and 2) steadfastness in my dependence on God in the good times. But, as I ponder these verses more today, I think there is actually only one thing I need to practice: a hunger to learn and grow through every circumstance, embracing it as the evidence of God’s hand in my life.

The hunger told of in verse three is because of God’s loving hand. The abundance promised in later verses is also because of God’s loving hand. Discipline and provision. Teaching and supply. Whether it’s want or plenty, it is God’s lavish hand granting just what He knows we need.

So, my challenge is to start seeing God’s lavish hand behind every moment of my life, whether easy or hard. In turn, the more I see His hand, the more I must respond not with complaint or laxity, but with rejoicing in the knowledge that He loves me so much that His hand will always be upon me.