The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:6, 8
O: Before the Israelites crossed the Jordan to enter into the promised land, Moses gave his last counsel. One thing that I absolutely love about these two verses is the repetition in emphasizing and reaffirming (to Israel) that God never changes-I feel as though these first books of the OT were pretty much this being repeated:
Israelites are delivered from ridiculous oppression from the Egyptians and immediately when they are being chased down, their faith in God is cast aside and they cry out and complain about how they would have been better off dying in Egypt serving the Egyptians. What does God do? He does not fail nor forsake His people and delivers them (miraculously I might add) across the Red Sea.
Fast forward to wandering in the desert, and yet again they complain about their living conditions and despair over lack of food and God, being the gracious and unfailing dude he is, provides a miraculous amount manna and meat from out of nowhere. (as a side note, God commanded them not to collect more than they needed and they did-which was a complete lack of faith and trust in God's providence with daily bread).
You'd think that by now the Israelites would have stopped grumbling but I suppose God used the whiniest and brattiest people of all to demonstrate how He could demonstrate his patience as well-the Israelites cried out again against Moses and God for water (yet again complaining that they left Egypt to be killed by them) and God brings water forth from a rock (what the heck, that's 3 miracles so far and counting) to yet again demonstrate his unfailing love.
There are tons of examples of how the people of Israel went back and forth upon their unfaithfulness and distrust in God but the true application of these verses happens in the repetition of verses-confirming the importance of knowing what it means to us personally and contextually. God will not fail me nor forsake me. God does not barely pull through when it comes to His providence-He does not come up short with resources or power.
When people are chased down by an army, he provides a way out (despite the impossibility in our eyes) and he crushes the army. When people are starving, he rains down food. When people are dry from thirst, God brings forth water from A ROCK. We forget the God we serve is well-beyond our thought capacity. With the unfathomable, I cannot put walls around any situation or limits by thinking up 'possible scenarios.' But that is exactly what I do, despite knowing God and some of the miraculous things He's done, I still somehow find a way to put Him in a box and I tentatively ask "God could you do this much? Could you move this much?" Why do I put numbers and logic upon the Infinite and Almighty?
The Lord is my God and I will serve Him with all my heart, soul, and might-He will not fail me nor forsake me.
A: If I truly believed that God is who He is and who He has revealed Himself to be, there is no reason to fall back on the rocky plains of sin. Sin in it's own right is faith in the world and unfaithfulness towards the Lord. I will not waver because His Word tells me that He will not fail nor forsake me. I will have faith in the only person who has never failed-With a proven track record, why should I trust anyone else? People fail, the world fails, and I fail, but God NEVER fails. I will trust in Him.
P: Lord, thank You. You've revealed to me that I am just like the people of Israel-sometimes I'm so wishy-washy and my weak desire for a greater trust to be anchored upon you has been given to me through Your Word-Thank You! I truly praise You because I know that You never fail and the same goes for Your Word. Teach me to trust You in the most impossible of situations. You are the Lord, my God. In Christ, amen.
Soli Deo Gloria
No comments:
Post a Comment