Deuteronomy is a collection of sermons and lessons that Moses delivered to the people as they were about to enter the Promised Land. In this study, we see two remarkable statements in this latest sermon:
Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: "Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders. But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 29:2-6, emphasis added).
The people witnessed all manner of supernatural things, along with the abominations of the local inhabitants, but they did not have a mind to understand it all. Why? Because God had not given it to them! So there is an element of revelation and insight that can only come when God lifts the veil, so to speak, that covers your eyes and ears. Therefore, what you do see and understand—the insight you have into life, your gifts, and the needs you see that are begging for your involvement—are a result of God showing them to you.
Then the second statement is the fact that the people's clothes and sandals didn't wear out during their 40-year trek through the Wilderness. It wasn't just that God could provide for them on their journey, He could do the supernatural for them to preserve what they already had in their harsh, desert conditions. God was involved in every aspect of His people's lives then and He is even more so now that we have the mind of Christ to understand all things: "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth" (1 John 2:20).
Where are you underestimating or taken for granted the light that God has shed on your life and circumstances, giving you a mind to see and discern the times, with knowledge of what to do? Where have you underestimated God's involvement as one who not only provides but also preserves and restores what you need to live? What more can you do now that you are aware of God's gift of understanding and perspective on your world, its needs, and your role in meeting those needs?
Stop minimizing the importance of what you see and know, for they are gifts of God which He wants you to utilize in His service. And while you serve Him, He is committed to provide for your needs, which means He will prevent some potential needs from ever materializing. Ask God to give you a mind to understand these things!
Comments