6 Be strong! Be fearless! Don’t be afraid and don’t be scared by your enemies, because the Lord your God is the one who marches with you. He won’t let you down, and he won’t abandon you.
Reflection
If someone asked us, I think many – perhaps most – of us wouldn’t say we had enemies. We don’t like to think in those terms. We may have people we don’t get along with, or those who don’t like us. But enemies?
We strive not to live that way. Part of being a Christian means that we try to work through our relationships as best we can so that we don’t have to look over our shoulders.
Then how can we understand a passage like this? What do we do with these words spoken by Moses to Israel just before they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land? Moses addresses the people fully expecting that the land will not be theirs without a fight. He’s speaking to the people about those who want to kill them.
We may not view any person in these terms – I hope we don’t. But that doesn’t mean we don’t face challenges so big, situations so difficult, or circumstances so intimidating that they threaten to take us out. Our enemies are fears, anxieties, stresses and struggles that we don’t know how to manage. Our enemies are things that drive us to the edge of exhaustion, despair, even self-destruction.
We don’t need literal human enemies to feel besieged. We don’t need people camped around us to feel terrified.
The message from God in the face of our enemies – whatever they may be – does not change: “I will be with you. I won’t let you down. I won’t abandon you.”
Every believer goes through seasons of fear that we struggle to manage. Every believer likewise has access to a hope and strength that is born out of an ancient promise: we never face our fears alone.
By Joe Monahan
For Pondering & Prayer
What fears, anxieties, or struggles are your enemies? How have you seen God lead you through them in the past? If you are struggling with fear today, take some time to journal, paint, draw or create something that can be a testimony to how God has seen you through. Come back to those words or that object when you need to remember God’s faithfulness. Don’t let your enemies take you out!
Prayer: Lord, I need your strength to keep going in the face of my fears. I need the comfort that comes from knowing that whatever scares me most, it pales in the face of your power. Remind me of this when I am frightened today. Amen.
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