Much of the time God deals with His disciples on a “crisis” basis. There is a certain quick kind of reaction generated by a crisis that never happens in the long, slow process. That happened to Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. They were “secret” disciples, not of the Twelve, the Seventy, or the One Hundred and Twenty. They followed Jesus from the shadows and at a distance.
Then suddenly God sent a crisis, the crisis of the cross, and the two hidden disciples had to come out in the open. They identified them-selves publicly as belonging to Jesus and begged the officials for His body for burial (John 19:38–42). So God often uses the crisis as a “do or die” tool to declare, strengthen, or purify a disciple.
As I study the wilderness journey of the Israelites, I am impressed by the number of crises they had to go through: thirst, hunger, snakes, ene- mies, rebellions. Yet God declares that the reason He led them through such experiences was to “prove … what was in [their] heart” (Deuteronomy 8:2-6, KJV). Thus, the wilderness was educational and cathartic; it was designed to show them the evil tendencies of their hearts and to purify them of such tendencies. For me, also, life will be a series of crises in which my commitment will either become strong and dependable or else will slowly shrink until it will be consumed by weakness.
Yet the theme of Deuteronomy 8 is not crisis but guidance. Over and over God assures His people that He led them, fed them, cared for them, fought for them, and guided them to His chosen goal. I must remember that! I am not living at the whim of mindless fate, but as the chosen son of a wise, loving Father. He leads me thus because He set His love upon me and chose me (see Deuteronomy 7:7).
“I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75).
Daily with the King 