Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 2

 

Remembering the Hand of God

It is so easy, when recounting our past experiences, to focus on the hardships and difficulties.  So often, we tell others about how hard it had been to go through a particular circumstance or experience. We love to “sing the blues.” Unfortunately, when we recount...

 our past, we sometimes fail to mention how God saw us through the hard times.  How His hand was upon us and how He fought for us.

In today’s passage, Moses is retelling the story of Israel’s wilderness wanderings.  He doesn’t avoid discussing the hard times: the many days traveling around Mount Seir; the money they had to spend to buy food and water; the difficulty passing through Moab; the battles with other nations; the loss of loved ones who perished in the wilderness; the hunger and thirst they experienced in the wilderness.

But through the whole story, Moses makes it a point to remind the people of God’s blessings along the way.  He tells them, “The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands.” (V7) “These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” (V7) “The Lord our God gave him [Sihon, king of Heshbon] over to us, and we defeated him.” (v33) “The Lord our God gave all into our hands.” (V37)

It is so important for us also to remember the hand of God upon us during our trials.  Sure, it’s okay to talk of the challenges and difficult chapters you’ve faced in your life.  But when you look back, always look for the hand of God upon your life and how he has brought you through it all.  Remember that the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands.