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He Will Never Leave You: Finding Strength to Face Overwhelming Odds

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by Brian Shilhavy [1]

He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

The time was drawing close for the Israelites to finally cross the Jordan River and take possession of the “promised land.” But their leader for the past 40 years, Moses, was not going with them. He was 120 years old now, and he was not going to be the one to lead them into the promised land. So he reminds both the people and Joshua, their new head, who it was that actually was going to be with them and leading them.

To the nation he says:

I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken… 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. (Deuteronomy 31:2-6)

To Joshua:

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. It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:7-8)

Later, God would speak directly to Joshua and tell him the same thing. God was clearly telling his people to go in and take the promised land, and no matter what the opposition looked like, he wanted them to be sure they knew that he would never leave them, and that they had no reason to be afraid of any difficulties they might face.

How about today?

For those of us entering into Jesus’ kingdom [2], the Kingdom of Light [3], does this promise apply to us also? Yes! Jesus said:

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)

The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote the same truth for us today:

He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU. (Hebrews 13:5)

As has been written previously, when we enter the Kingdom of Jesus through rebirth [2], a spiritual kingdom [3] at present, we become a minority people in this world. When we listen to his voice each day and walk the path he has laid out before us, we find it is a very narrow path that very few are walking. The spiritual forces in the kingdom of darkness unleash all their power against us, trying to get us off that narrow path. We go against the crowd, with much opposition.

But what a wonderful promise, a sure promise that we can depend upon each day, that Jesus our King will never leave us, that he will be by our side every moment, and that we have nothing to fear! Think of the incredible implications of such a truth:

Yes, Jesus has promised to never leave us, and has assured us that we do not have to be afraid. But he wants us to turn to him each day not only when we are in need, but also when we are happy and rejoicing in the good gifts that he gives to us, recognizing that everything we enjoy in life is a gift from God:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)

Do you appreciate him? Can we ever thank him enough for loving us when we don’t deserve it, and for giving to us a place in his kingdom?

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)

The Israelite’s struggles did not end the day they finally entered the promised land. In fact, they were just beginning! There were giants in the land living in fortified cities that were not going to just hand things over to them. But God made it clear that they were not to fear them, and that he would never leave or abandon them.

The same is true today. When we enter the spiritual kingdom of Jesus through spiritual rebirth [2], we receive a great inheritance, but our struggles are just beginning. The king of darkness and his spiritual forces will not just hand their territory over to us. They will oppose us and seek to destroy us.

But Jesus walks by our side with a power the opposition cannot overcome. Light always overcomes darkness. Therefore we have nothing to fear, because Jesus will never leave us! So be sure you are walking in the light, and not stumbling in the darkness. Turn to Jesus today and trust him [4], by following his leading!

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)