If there are two things we’d rather not have, wouldn’t they be humbling and chastening?
Here’s what we read of God’s dealings with Israel: “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.…You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you” (Deut 8:2-5). The subjects of humbling and chastening are both found in the New Testament as well. Humbling is the action of bringing us to the level of God’s blessing, which, like water, always fills the lowest pools. Chastening is the action of child training that slowly but surely conforms us to “that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” for us (Rom 12:2). Though it may not seem so at the time, these are the best gifts God gives to His people. Humbling gives us the mind of Christ (Php 2:1-11). Chastening reveals to us the love of God (Heb 12:5-11). As Moses explains to Israel, God’s allowing them to journey through the wilderness was intended to reveal “what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” Through this, they could discover both their hearts and God’s, as revealed by the commandments. His allowing them to be hungry was intended to give them an appetite, not only for the manna, but for “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Our humbling and chastening should do the same for believers today: lead us to discover God’s heart and to desire His ways.