Deuteronomy 8

Verses 1-5, “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. 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 which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. 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.”

We often get so big in our own eyes, thinking that we are self sufficient, and stop relying on God. Therefore, He allows us wilderness experiences to humble us and teach us to rely upon Him. When you are backed against a wall and have no way of escape without a miracle, that is precisely when you will cry out to Him and His strength can shine through. Then God gets all the glory. The Jews were humbled in the wilderness to test their faith and teach them to rely on the words of God, and not to place so much value on physical things. God wants to meet a much greater spiritual need than our physical hunger and thirst.  Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”  By testing our faith, He allows us to see where our faith is lacking so we can be corrected. This testing provides an opportunity for us to develop endurance to finish the race.

Verses 6-10, “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.”

God's love for us does not change with the situation, and neither should our love for Him. When we are in times of blessing, we praise Him. When we are in trials and times of need, we still praise Him because He is worthy. You can see from the list of blessings above, that God is not against people having material things. What He is against is those blessings, physical things, becoming more important than Him (idols). Our spiritual well being is of a much greater importance.  In Luke 9:23-25, Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”  What good will all the possessions and worldly success do you in the end if you end up in hell? You can't even bring them with you to ease your suffering.

If you spend your life seeking worldly goods, your life's work will have been in vain when it comes at the price of your salvation. However, when we are obedient to God and His commands, the physical needs will be met without all the striving. In Matthew 6 we learn that we should store up treasure in Heaven rather than on earth, because the earth and everything in it will be destroyed. We also learn that it is impossible to serve God and money, because one will always take priority over the other. Finally, the same chapter tells us not to even worry about material needs like food, clothing, and shelter. When we do, we look just like the unsaved, rather than children of God.  Our focus should be our obedience to God and seeking Him first.  Matthew 6:31-34, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Verses 11-17, “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest— when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ ” 

In times of plenty, you must beware that you do not forget God in the midst of the blessing. The reason is that man has a tendency to be prideful and take the credit.  I John 2:16, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”  Pride is something that God hates and you will be rebuked for it.  Psalms 119:21, “You rebuke the proud—the cursed, Who stray from Your commandments.”  You do not need to lift yourself up, you just need to humble yourself before God.  James 4:10, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”  When you approach Him with humility, you will be shown grace. However, if you choose the prideful ways of the world, you will become an enemy of God.  James 4:4-6, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, 'The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously'? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 'God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.' ”

Verses 18-20, “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.”  God is the one who gives us the ability to obtain wealth, which is why we should be generous givers. Realizing that it is not because of our own awesomeness that we have the things we have is just the beginning. When you start acting like it is, you are in need of your own wilderness experience to humble you and teach you obedience and reliance upon God all over. For instance, the one who does not trust God with their finances, is often in financial trials. He wants is to be rich toward Him, not selfish and shortsighted. Generous people always seem to have things to give, though.