Last Sunday, March 22, 2026, I had the privilege of speaking at Horizon Community Church. I spoke from Deuteronomy chapter 8 in a message entitled: “Scarcity & Abundance.” Below is my outline if you’d prefer to read the highlights.
Introduction
“We are often most aware of our need for God when the ground is shaking. Once the ground feels steady again, we start walking like we built the floor.“
Act 1: Remember the Wilderness (8:1-6)
Deuteronomy 8:2-5 (NLT)
2 Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. 5 Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.
“God uses the wilderness to form you, not finish you.“
Warren Wiersbe: “The devil tempts us to bring out the worst in us, but God tests us to bring out the best in us.”
Lessons from the wilderness:
A. Manna taught dependence on God’s Word.
B. Their clothes not wearing out strengthened and advanced their faith.
C. Their feet not swelling or blistering proved God could help them be greater than the challenges they faced.
“God is building something in you that blessing alone can not construct.“
Scarcity forms us.
Act 2: Receive the Promise (8:7-10)
Deuteronomy 8:7-10 (NLT)
7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. 8 It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. 9 It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. 10 When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
James 1:17 (NIV)
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
If scarcity forms us, abundance reveals us.
3. Resist your Pride (8:11-20)
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (NLT)
17 He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ 18 Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.
Timothy Keller: “If you are proud of your wealth, your intelligence, your education, your success, you are not just proud – you are insecure.”
Scarcity forms you. Abundance reveals you. Pride undoes you.
Here are three questions to consider:
- What is God forming in me in this season?
- Where do I need to practice gratitude as a discipline, not a mood?
- Where have I started telling the story as if I’m the hero?
dc.
