The people of God were warned of a significant transformation that lay ahead of them in Deuteronomy 31. For 40 years, Moses had guided them through “thick and thin” and now he says something shocking. The Lord has told me that you shall not cross the Jordan, he declares in verse 2. Imagine the astonishment that swept the camp! Joshua will cross in front of you, he adds. (vs 3). Here was their commander urging a change of command at a crucial juncture in the journey to the Promised Land.
In addition, Moses makes it clear in verse 2 that, at 120 years old, he could no longer lead them. For the Israelites, who were accustomed to seeing Moses standing in front of them, it was undoubtedly a frightening time. Yes, shifting situations may be quite difficult!
The Lord your God, however, goes before you; He will never abandon you nor forsake you, Moses assures the people. What an assurance! Therefore, he exhorts the populace to show fortitude and bravery. The people who had saw God advance before them as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire were strengthened by this (Exodus 13:21). It is certainly no coincidence that God promises Joshua, the new leader, in Joshua 1:5 that “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
What evolving conditions are you now dealing with? How are you handling those modifications? Has terror taken hold of you? Do you think of God as being distant? Keeping this in mind, He won’t abandon you. Our God never leaves us, especially during the most trying times.
There is a tale of a family whose home was destroyed by fire. The young daughter who was holding the father’s hand broke away from his embrace and raced upstairs to collect her teddy bear as each parent hurried to grab a few possessions and a child’s hand to flee the house as quickly as possible. But as she tried to descend once more, she discovered that the engulfing flames had imprisoned her.
As a result, she sprinted to the upper window and yelled for her father to intervene. The father responded by yelling, “Jump down; I’ll catch you.” However, the young girl cried, “I’m terrified to jump papa, I can’t see you,” because she could not see her father well through the smoke. Don’t worry honey, you just leap, her dad retorted. I’m directly underneath you, and I’ll grab you. I CAN SEE YOU even though you can’t see me.
We are always in the sight of our heavenly Father. He won’t ever leave us!
