Deuteronomy 31:1-8
Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:1-8 (NIV)
Part of this passage or some version of it is often quoted. It occurs in two places in these paragraphs. “6…Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Then in passage 8 Moses says, “8The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” These statements from Moses should be very consoling to believers. He is telling us to believe in God because he will be with us always.
That can be a difficult pill to swallow for those of us who are hands on folks for whom ‘seeing is believing.’ I have not seen God and I do not know of any living person who has. So, to tell me that God will never leave me, is hard to easily accept. Yet we do see his actions that help us survive a very unruly world! Like the time Joyce, I and our boys were driving to professional meetings near Reno. It was Sunday in very western Nevada. We found a lady’s purse on the exit ramp to a rest stop on I-80 in the middle of nowhere. We thought we would stop a state patrolman and give it to him. Over the next 80 miles or so we never saw one. We pulled into the next town, found a drive in and had a sandwich. We next scouted out the local State Patrol Office, which we found out was closed. As we were walking back to our car, another car pulled up and a young couple exited towards the closed station. She saw Joyce carrying that purse and loudly exclaimed ‘my purse!’ And indeed, it was. The amazing thing was that this was well over an hour since we found it. Yes, God does work in mysterious ways. That event was well over 50 years ago, but it is as clear in my mind as if it were yesterday! Was that God at work, or blind luck. I have always believed it was the former! It takes a strong set of beliefs to overcome all the grief and misery in our world. Attending church and participating in Southwood events helps me maintain the appropriate perspective. It will help you too if you haven’t already adopted that habit!
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