This post is a part of my series of once weekly devotionals called Faith for Thought. Bookmark the homepage for Faith for Thought here to return to it for the weekly update on Thursday!
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Deuteronomy 31:14-22
14 The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. 15 Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent. 16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’ 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
19 “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” 22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
Deuteronomy 31:14-22, NIV
Devotion
When we were trying to get pregnant, inevitably several of our friends announced that they were now pregnant with their second children (in bitterness I couldn’t help thinking that we had been trying to get pregnant since before they were even pregnant with their first).
I remember falling into the trap of asking God, “Why can’t we just have one? All we want is one.”
As if one child would be all we would ever need to ask God for. As if after one child we would never pray for another. As if the blessing of a child would solve all of our problems and make us content.
The truth is, I really should’ve known better. A year or two earlier, I had had a melanoma scare to the point where I had an ultrasound on my lymph nodes and my doctor recommended a full body PET scan. (Trust me, the irony of going in for an ultrasound to check for cancer at a time when I had hoped it would be to check on a baby was not lost on me.)
At the time, I remember praying to God: “If only everything would come back normal — I don’t care anymore if you ever give me a baby — I just want to be healthy.”
As if being cleared for cancer would suddenly make me content with everything I had. As if it would take away any other desperate prayers I had.
In reality: A short time after my test results came back normal, I went right back to begging God for a baby.
How quickly I forget all of the things God has done for me.
When something “scary” happens to us, we seem to believe that it will change our perspective on life forever. (And maybe for the select few, it does.)
But for the rest of us, shortly after God delivers us from our difficult situation, we go right back to the same people we were before. Don’t we?
It appears that God knows how we work, and it’s just like the Israelites: “When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them” (v. 20).
When God allowed the Israelites to finally enter the promised land, they shouted his praises (Joshua 24). But sure enough, it wasn’t long before they forgot everything and turned to other gods, just like God had said.
When they thrived is when they turned to other gods.
How can we be reminded of everything God has done for us, so that when we are thriving we are not turning away from God but toward Him?
Take Action
A woman in my Bible study recently shared how she keeps a list of things that have happened in her life that have been orchestrated by God. She looks at this list to remind her of all the times she has seen God work and intervene in her life.
This is not an everyday gratitude journal, but rather a journal of the things God has done for her, sometimes big and sometimes small. Looking at this list reminds her of the miraculous ways God has provided for her, and even when she is thriving she is reminded to turn toward God.
Consider starting a list of your own like this today.
