Can God use your Circumstances?
What's in your heart?
In Deuteronomy chapter 8 we have 5 things about the humbling and proving process God uses in our life. The Lord was after Israel's heart and is after ours as well. God used Israel's circumstances to humble and prove them. This humbling and proving is the means God uses to capture our heart. In the midst of the humbling and proving we may find ourselves in adverse and difficult circumstances.
There are 5 things about our circumstances we can learn about Israel's circumstances. 1 Circumstances are what God uses to introduce the humbling and proving process in Israel's life. ~ Point here is the circumstances regardless of what they are, how they come or maybe the person by whom they come are used by God to introduce the humbling and proving process in our life.
2 Circumstances revealed what was in their heart. ~ Point here is those circumstances God allows are used to reveal to us what is in our heart. God knows the content of our heart but we don't always know what needs corrected in us.
3 Circumstances were used to see if Israel would obey the word of God. ~ Point here those difficult circumstances reveal areas in which we come up short of the standard the word of God requires of us.
4 Circumstances were to teach Israel to live by the word of God. ~ Point here is when our shortcomings are revealed by the word and we see areas which need corrected, we then apply the bible to those areas and live it out in those areas of our life.
5 Circumstances were to do Israel good at the latter end. ~ Point here is that if we allow God's humbling and proving process in our life and don't fight and kick against it, we will be humbled, corrected by the word and be blessed in the latter end. There's much to be said for a believer who has been humbled, corrected and lives by the word of God.
God's humbling brings us low and needy of God. The proving shows the quality of our heart. When the word shows what needs corrected we implement the word in that area.
What's in your heart?
(additional scriptures are Psalm 119:9,11; Prov 23:26; Mark 7:20-23; James 1:22; 1 Peter 1:22)