Tonight my heart is very heavy for some people that I love dearly. All I want for the people that I love is to realize how loved they truly are. From my best friends, to my family members, to some amazing teenagers that I am beyond blessed to know, and even to myself there are so many times we forget. We forget the love that rescued us and live like we’re not free. We forget that God is bigger than anything and everything that we will ever face. We forget.
I’m reading Deuteronomy right now in my Bible study and God is preparing to take the Israelites finally out of the desert and into the land that they have been promised. He pleads of them over and over to remember Him and all He did for them. He knew they were going into a time of change and transition and that they would be faced with armies and enemies but inevitably He would be triumphant in accomplishing His will. He had promised them this land and He would deliver on that promise. And all He wanted them to do was remember Him! In Deuteronomy 8:18-20 God pleads with the people to remember that it is He alone who brings them into their time of blessing. He says if they forget Him they will perish because they are not listening for His voice!
But He’s with them not only when they are in the promised land; He is with them in the trouble. He says in 7:21 in talking about the enemies they are about to face that “You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. “ He was bigger, greater, and more powerful than anything they would ever face.
The beauty of our God is that no matter where we are, He’s there with His love. If we’re in the desert wondering where God is and how He could love us, He’s there. If we’re in a time of transition trying to figure out how we’re going to face our enemies and fight our battles, He’s there. When we’re heading into a time in our lives of blessing and deliverance of promises, He’s there. No matter where we are, what we have done, or what we are facing our God is there.
And His desire for us remains “Oh that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29)
