Deuteronomy 8:1-18

Chuck was a fairly new Christian and growing in Christ.

He came to his pastor one day with a problem. “I just don’t seem to be getting any answers from God lately. I took your course on faith. I have taken definite steps in faith, and God has blessed, but lately He doesn’t seem to respond to my faith. What’s wrong?”

For the child of God who is walking in fellowship with the Lord, nothing is necessarily wrong when God doesn’t respond. The reason can be one of two things. God has either closed the door, or He is waiting for better timing.

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

• God is making you into the person He wants you to be
  • By purifying our hearts
    • He allowed hunger to teach (Deuteronomy 8:3)
    • He provided for them (Deuteronomy 8:4)
  • By perfecting our ways (Deuteronomy 8:5)
• God reminds you of who the resource is
  • He protects from building on the wrong foundations
    • His warning to Israel
  • God postpones answers to remind you who He is
• God changes the results of faith into greater things
  • God wanted to give great things to His people, but they weren’t ready yet (Deuteronomy 8:7-9)
  • God sometimes replaces what is good with what is best

What do you do when the mountains don’t move? Keep on trusting. Why? Because God either doesn’t want you to go in that direction or He is postponing the blessing to purify your motives. Or He is postponing to learn if you are trusting so that He can heap greater blessings upon you.