Proven Through Testing

Proven Through Testing
And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna… Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. —Deuteronomy 8: 2-5
In his final instructions, just as the children of Israel are about to enter the Promised Land, Moses reminds them that God permitted a bitter testing to teach them three things.
First, God wanted the children of Israel to see what was in their hearts. When tested, would they obey Him? Trust Him? Praise Him?
**God uses trials to show us our hearts, that we might be cleansed and then brought into the land of blessing—physically and spiritually.
Secondly, the Israelites needed to know that life is more than just a physical experience. God wants us to live in the spiritual realm, walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit.
Thirdly, they needed to know that God chastens His own, to keep us from those things that would destroy us.
God uses testings in the same way today. He uses trials to show us our hearts, that we might be cleansed and then brought into the land of blessing. Father, reveal what is in our hearts, that we might surrender it to the cross. Amen.

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