In the sermon on Sunday, I noted what God said through Moses to the new generation of Israelites, just before leading them into the promised land for the first time after 40 years of wandering through the wilderness:

"[The Lord] humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord… Take care… lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when… all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water… that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end." (Deuteronomy 8:3, 11–16)

Letting them hunger is described as a blessing rather than a curse. Paul likewise describes the afflictions he faced as a gift, “to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Cor 1:9). Having described our frail bodies as “jars of clay”, Paul wrote: “though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day,” training us to “look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (1 Cor 4:7, 16, 18).

Charles Spurgeon once made the following assertion:

“I venture to say that the greatest earthly blessing that God can give to any of us is health, with the exception of sickness. Sickness has frequently been of more use to the saints of God than health has.” (An All-Around Ministry, 384)

May we adopt this radical mindset in regard to the difficulties we face, that our contentment might not rest on our circumstances, but on the God of our circumstances. 

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Evan