But Jesus told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ – Matthew 4:4 NLT
Contrary to what many Christians may believe, God gives us promises not just because he plans to bless us, but because he wants to also prepare us for the blessings he gives. This is so we can enjoy God’s blessings without carrying the same burdens we did before he blessed us.
Job is an excellent example of a godly man who was tested and prepared by God for the blessings God had in mind. Job had everything: wealth, children, servants and more. God had something better planned for him than his wealth, so he allowed the devil to torture Job as a test of his faith. This torture included the deaths of Job’s family, servants and livestock. God fully planned to restore everything the devil had taken and more, but he wasn’t going to do that before teaching Job a lesson in humility.
In the same way, we tend to get arrogant before God. We think that our blessings came from us alone, and so we choose to serve God only until life takes a turn for the worse. When it does, we lose our faith almost immediately. However, if we can keep our faith throughout the struggle, God will restore us.
Deuteronomy illustrates this same point. The Israelites spent the time of the Book of Deuteronomy standing at the threshold of the promised land. Their promise from God was about to be fulfilled. However, the Israelites weren’t ready for the promised land. They needed to receive rules for life first. This book taught the Israelites patience as they waited on God to fulfill his promises and deliver them to the promised land.
Many Christians today have been called to wait for God to fulfill a promise. They may feel that the waiting just keeps going on with no end in sight. However, Deuteronomy teaches us that there is an end in sight, but it operates on God’s timing, not our own. For now, there’s something to learn in the waiting, and oftentimes, the best way to learn how to handle yourself in a waiting period is by learning from those who have already learned to do it God’s way.
