Deprivation

Deprivation

When we ignore or disobey God’s Law, He can withdraw His blessings.

“The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.” Deuteronomy 28:20

Sometimes God uses deprivation and loss to get His people’s attention. The good blessings that He provides day by day He can easily withdraw. In Deuteronomy 28:1-14 God spelled out in everyday detail the many ways that He would bless His people in the land of promise. And then, just as quickly, He told them that He would take all these everyday blessings away if they disobeyed His Law.

All the material blessings of our lives come from the Lord. The earth is His, and everything in it (Ps. 24:1). He grants us blessings out of His steadfast love and faithfulness. If we prove not to be good stewards of His gifts, or if we use them in ways contrary to His purposes in giving them, He can simply take them away—homes, jobs, possessions, wealth, whatever we have or cherish.

Deprivation may also include depriving us of our peace. When we become confused, frustrated, disappointed, or disillusioned, we lose something very important to us—our shalom. To be deprived of that sense of well-being in our souls can be just as painful as any material or temporal loss.

At such times we need to give thanks, and then seek to discover whether this discipline comes as a test—to strengthen our faith—or a trial—to judge and correct us. Only by turning to the Lord and waiting on Him can we discern His reasons and purposes for deprivation or any of His passive disciplines. And only by this means will we be able to realize the good He intends for us.

For more insight to the nature of God’s Covenant, order a copy of T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store. Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.