Humility #7—Tested Humility

He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, … that he might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Eternal … that he might test you, to do good for you in the end. Deuteronomy 8:3, 16

Humility is so important to our life with God that he works hard to keep us humble. His aim in our relationship is to do us good, to set us up for everlasting joy. That’s what it means for him to be a deity to us. So he works difficulties into our lives to test our confidence in his ability to provide, and our willingness to follow his instructions. It seems strange to learn about the reliability of God’s care by experiencing hunger, or to learn about the wisdom of God’s directions, by experiencing thirst. But if he didn’t take us through situations from which we could not extricate ourselves on our own, we would become proud, envious, greedy, demanding people. Humbling circumstances give us choices: to call out to him in faith or to whine at him in fear, to trust his instructions or to follow our own inclinations. Humble responses keep us looking to God for all of the good he guarantees through Jesus and provides as we follow Jesus in the obedience of faith.

Eternal God, as I walk with you, may I follow Jesus’ example of humbly relying on the perfect timing of your good provision.