Depend on Him Again

Deuteronomy 31:6: Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid. For the Lord your God is with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

That passage of scripture has become my personal anchor, as of late. For me, it reminds me that God is with me, as he has always been with me, and He will always be with me, regardless of me.

But even more, it’s important to not just take this verse at face value and pass it off as a shallow pond that we splash in. It’s much deeper than that.

Note that in the original context of this verse, Moses is reassuring Israel that God will not abandon them in their hour of need, then He goes on to encourage Joshua as he leads the people. The key point for me here, and the most interesting part of the whole thing, is that Moses is delivering this sermon of encouragement right as the children of Israel are poised to enter the promised land.

Do you wonder “Why, if they’re about to inherit all the blessings of the promised land, does Moses need to encourage them and reassure them?”

I believe it’s because Moses was wise enough to realize that in the times when we’re about to receive a prize or reward, something we’ve worked for or waited on, this is the time when we’re most venerable. We relax. We let down our guard. We get lazy or complacent. We become easier targets for the trials and temptations of our enemy.

I believe Moses was planting the seed of hope in his people when he told them “You’re about to have it all, but when trouble comes (and it will come), don’t lose hope. God is still with you. Remind yourself at that time, to depend again on Him.”