DEUTERONOMY 8: TODAY’S STORM INSURANCE
While it may be possible to buy a house insurance for protecting your belongings against whatever storms that this world throws at you, 
no insurance plan and no amount of money can protect/prevent your metaphoric storms that are encountered unexpectedly throughout Life’s journey. The vortex of those invisible tornados that threatened to suck us into oblivion; volcanic eruptions carrying the power to destroy us; and those perplexing back-breaking climbs that seem needlessly endless. Yet when I opened up today’s chapter, I immediately noticed how it was labelled “God’s Gracious Dealings”.
My Creator God who made me in His own image to operate in His Likeness, has given me something far better than a storm insurance for today. He’s given me LIFE Assurance! If I operate according to my manufacturer’s handbook, three things will happen: I’ll live, and multiply, and go into the everlasting place that He has prepared in advance for me to go. [v1] I’m to look back on my life journey and remember, for a good reason: to mark the “storms” that were His discipline and my learning curves, as He carried me along. But why would a good God “test” us [v2] or “discipline” us [v5] at all?
Well…. this timeframe of Life on Planet Earth is only a fraction of a total whole: Eternity. Although it may seem long to us, this chapter is so short that it’s almost like a Preface before the real story begins. If we are a created being specifically manufactured in Father God’s own image, then:
- He wouldn’t risk cloning Himself[a] without a hugely important reason;
- we can’t live (survive/exist/function) without every single word of His manufacturer’s handbook [v3] and may I add: utter stupidity to expect not to ‘come unstuck’ and ‘run into strife’ when skipping whole chunks of it [v6]; and
- He had better test what He created for a defined time, to ensure that we’re working right [v5] (capable of operating in His Likeness, or malfunctioning) before letting us loose on the environment that He had in mind in The Beginning[b] and all along since The Beginning. [v7-10]
Any scientist will tell you that this must be in a closed/protected environment, a lab; and in our case, it’s the closed environment of Planet Earth. If you doubt me, just watch the movies Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Avatar, to see the damage we would create if we escaped into our Father’s Eternal Kingdom in our current condition.
If you want to acknowledge the He exists at all, and if you were really honest, you will most certainly have instances where you’ve experienced “chance meetings”, “unbelievable coincidences”, “miraculous interventions”, “hope realized against all odds” and “incredible near misses” where you’ve thanked your lucky stars. But if there’s no such thing as lucky stars, why thank them when you refuse to thank your Father God for His loving provisions. [v4] Even if you find it hard to believe at all that there is a Creator God who created you, there would still be more mileage in thanking Him who presides over HIStory on earth, than thanking balls of gas millions of miles away!
Instead, if you look back as He suggests and take an honest look in the rear-view mirror [v12-14&17], I can almost guarantee that you will be able to see His imprint all over your life. I say ‘almost guarantee’ because human nature gravitates towards self-reliance, self-governance, and self-survival – especially in our current culture of individualism. We teach our kids to 
‘get ahead in life’ and ‘no-one will help you, you have to help yourself’, but then somehow have to juggle that truth and that responsibility as fully functioning citizens, with a full and complete reliance on Father God at the back of it all. “Beware not to forget… [v11] Otherwise…” [12a] “…Then your heart will become proud…” [v14&17] But there’s a difference between “test” and “prove”; and between “humiliation” and “humble”. As hard as it feels at the time[c], v16 in today’s chapter tells me that my Father and Creator leads me in a way that He might humble me, and that He might prove me, to do me good at my ‘acharit’ (end-of-days).
Between the fantastic moments (celebrating wedding anniversaries in exotic locations dotted all over the world; enjoying the privilege of new babies as our family grew; smiling at the memories of family holidays and swelling with pride as our children took hold of their destinies), nothing’s random and everything has a purpose. This assumption strengthens upon reading chapters like this. But if life isn’t random, what sort of “storm insurance” is needed for completing the journey? If a purpose undergirds everything I face, then how can I prepare for what’s ahead?
Answer: by understanding what’s behind what I see, and what’s happening below the surface of what I’m experiencing. If I don’t get this right now[d], or if I refuse to at least pursue any form of insurance that relates at all to God [v18], I WILL risk it going horribly wrong for myself in the end. [v19-20]
Click to Return to Today’s Breadcrumb
[a] Genesis 1:26-28
[b] Genesis 3:22-24
[c] Hebrews 12:11
[d] Joel 2:12-13