Today’s Reading: Deuteronomy 31
The last chapters of Deuteronomy are a farewell letter from Moses to the children of Israel. They have gone through the exodus from Egypt, they have gone through the wilderness, and now they are at the break of coming into the promised land. This could be seen as a eulogy for Moses, but it actually is a word of encouragement to the people of Israel.
Whenever we lose someone close to us, we have a tendency to be saddened and then have a fear of what’s next. There is a fear of the unknown, there’s a fear of losing that person, and then a fear of failing God with the next chapter of your life. God understands that fear is a natural part of our emotional complex. God knows our innermost parts and he has these words of encouragement that come three times in this chapter of Deuteronomy.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” …..
Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. ….
And the Lord commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6-7, 23 ESV
In this chapter, we see that fear is the weakness in which God‘s faithfulness is able to shine. God shows us that in order for him to shine and to grow us we have to be exposed to outside stresses. The only way that a muscle is able to get strong is through applied stress in a controlled situation. This is how you become stronger.
God is not allowing us to experience these stresses alone or in isolation. He shows this with the people of Israel and with us in our experiences, he will not allow the stresses without a controlled environment. He sets us up for success.
God wants us to try to accomplish many things. He is an amazing father. He also has a foresight and insight to set up insurances for us to succeed. Many times we think that God is not there or if he’s forgotten about us, but he has already seen the things to come and have backup methods for us. In the passage below, it shows how God sees what is to come and how to instruct his people on how to return to his open arms.
“And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them….
“Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel…
So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 31:16, 19, 22 ESV
This scenario is similar to a dad with a new driver. The dad will have the insurance and the AAA card and the connections to help out the new driver in the event that they will have an incident. It’s not saying that they are being set up for failure, but they have insurance to help them in the event that they need assistance.
Throughout our life, God has the best intentions for us, but he also has insurance policies for us. Even when we think that we’ve fallen so far from God‘s design and his purpose, God still has love and a plan for us.
Let us not hide from fear. Let us acknowledge the unknown and be confident in God’s plan for us and that he has insurance policies on us to protect us when we are aligned and in relationship with him. May you be blessed this week and be courageous in all that you do.
Be Blessed
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