He will neither fail you nor abandon you (part 1)
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
The verse for today comes from the book of Deuteronomy. To set the scene a bit, the Israelites were walking to the promise land. They had to have been tired and frustrated after walking about aimlessly for 40 years. Moses was offering a bit of encouragement here in this verse.
No matter what season of life I have been in, God always come through. It didn’t and doesn’t matter how badly I have humanly screwed up, been impatient, or let my anxiety get the best of me – The Lord has never left me.
There was once a time when I was a young mom, with a new mouth to feed, with my one income and I remember looking at my pantry and refrigerator thinking I don’t know how we are going to make it another two weeks. In fact, to elaborate - at the time, we just started our payment plan for Ch 13 bankruptcy which included the four months of past due mortgage payments.
To make things worse, my bi-weekly paycheck was being garnished in order to finance those CH 13 payments. Things were as thin as an old overstretched rubber band with frayed edges.
I remember a time while I was at HEB at the end of a weekday. There was a line full of customers waiting to be checked out. Then, I got the shameful phrase no one wants to hear. “Ma’am your card declined.” My now oldest, was only 4 at the time.
Cheeks hot with embarrassment and tears in my eyes, I told her please start taking things off while I check my bank. I checked the account while I was in line and saw I had a lower amount than I thought, left in the bank. (One could say, why didn’t you check your account before shopping. The thing is, I did that morning. A separate issue I was dealing with was someone was using money for not so good things and those transactions didn’t show up until later. I thought there was plenty in the account to get the things we needed. That is an entirely different message, but I will share that one day when the time is right.)
I didn’t know it at the time, but a parent of one of the students I taught in youth ministry was in another line. She came up to me, told me she’d cover the rest of my groceries, gave me a big smile and walked outside. She met me outside and gave me the biggest hug one could ever receive from another human being. She was Jesus with skin on to me that day.
The Lord continued to provide and held us close in those rocky waves. That was also the year my side photography job made us an additional $12k and it continued to bring in those kinds amounts until that season of bankruptcy was complete.
I didn’t see it then, but I can see how close the Lord was to my heart, my hurt and my little family. I was so incredibly thankful for God coming through and not abandoning us. He went ahead of me, provided and is still doing so today. (I’ll add onto this in part two of this message later on.)
This economy is already hard and increasingly becoming harder. I never wish hardship on anyone, so when I say I have been there, reader – I have been there. Headaches daily from worry, blurred vision because I don’t know how something is going to be paid and a heart racing when I saw the bill collectors calling.
So, my prayer is this - May God keep you, provide and go ahead of you to take care of what is needed. Even if – you don’t believe it, can’t see it yet or if you doubt.
God can’t fail. If He does, then His whole entire word in the Bible would be void. That doesn’t mean He is a miracle worker and it also doesn’t mean we can spend our finances foolishly in hopes to be bailed out later. But if we are in line with His plans, He will come through for us.
If you need prayer for a situation you’re in, please use the contact form to send in something you need prayer for.
I pray God gives you peace and rest, reader. In Jesus name, Amen!
-Jamie
