20th March 2022
Deuteronomy 31:8 – And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee, he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
MESSAGE
As we all know, feeling of being abandoned is very uncomfortable and distressing. This is especially so for children. For those children who are abandoned by their parents, their sense of hopelessness and loss is many times worst. Such feeling, unfortunately, may continue into adulthood. The negative effects of such feeling can be devastating to the children as they may live in constant fear of abandonment like when my good friends going to abandon me; can I trust my “Best Friend Forever?” or, constant fear of being alone, and so one. The prolonged period of having such feeling will affect his or her relationship with other people. Thankfully, this may not be common as most parents love their children just like how God loves us and they are also friends who stayed with us through “thick and thin.”
It is thus a great blessing and we must thank and praise God for parents who are dearly taking care of their children and also for friends who are trustworthy and stayed with them through ‘thick and ‘thin’ regardless of situation. We must constantly pray to God to bestow good health to them and keep them safe all the times.
In the scripture verse we just read, Deuteronomy 31:8 it was about Joshua who was commanded by God to go and fight against the enemies in order to protect the people and defend their land. But Joshua was worried because the enemies’ soldiers were very strong and very well-equipped. Furthermore, Joshua was a new commander and he just took over from Moses and the soldiers handed by Moses to him were very poorly equipped. To comfort and assure Joshua, God then told Joshua not to worry because He will be with him and will not forsake him. Joshua listened and faithfully trusted and obeyed God. God fulfilled His promise and Joshua finally won the battle even though he was a new commander and he was fighting against a very strong and well-equipped army.
In our own life, we may not really have the kind of enemies like Joshua. We may, however, have different kinds of ‘enemies’ like sickness, death of a child, job loss and we are constantly living in fear whether such events will happen to us. These ‘enemies’ of us are very real but very different from that of Joshua. Just the thought of the possibilities of encountering one of these events will send a chill down to our spine and it will give us deep sense of insecurity. When one of these events occurred, we have indeed encountered some kind of abandonment. For example when our parents are sicked and unable to look after us is like we are being abandoned as now no one could take care of us or when we lose our job we will have the feeling that our company has said to us: “We don’t need you anymore.” We feel abandoned and betrayed especially for those who have worked in the company for many years. We must acknowledge that sometimes it is at no fault of anyone because the abandonment may due to unforeseen circumstances.
It is very comforting to read Deuteronomy 31:8 that when we are abandoned for whatever reasons, God will never forsake and abandon us. He will always be with us. However, at times when we feel that we need God the most, He doesn’t seem to be with us and inevitable we ask the question: “Jesus, where are you? I really need You now.
A beautiful poem below depicts to us how trustworthy, loving and faithful Jesus is to us. It tells us that at times when we were at the lowest point of our life and when we felt that our Lord Jesus was totally absent from us, He was indeed carrying us with His Hand. Jesus will never let us walk alone.
Footprints In The Sand
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking
along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:
one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he question the LORD about it:
“LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you’d walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me.”
The LORD JESUS replied:
“My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.”
Let us pray:
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for carrying me in good and in bad times. I know You are always with me and I am safe in Your Mighty Hand at all the times. You are the God of Miracles, God of the Healer and a very faithful and loving God that I can fully trust. While friends may abandon me and sometimes with valid reasons but I know under no circumstances Lord Jesus will never leave me nor forsake me. I truly like to confess my sin in the event that I still have doubt in You but please Lord, send your Holy Spirit to tell me that You are always with me regardless of my situation. As written in Psalm 73:26 – My body and my heart may fail and grow weak, but God you are the strength of my heart. You are everything I will ever need. Help us Lord Jesus that we can be like You and that we will not abandon our good friends who are in need of our help.
In Your Mighty Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.