He Goes Before You
“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 31:8
At this time in Deuteronomy Moses knows he will not continue to lead the people as Joshua is to take over. So as Moses is speaking to the Israelites he is saying, “The Lord your God himself will go over before you.” vs. 3. This is new for Joshua to be the leader and the Israelites are about to go into battle to take new ground with a new leader. I’m sure that was a scary time for the Israelites. When we read the Bible, we know the outcome; however they did not know what was to happen. It took great courage and faith for them to continue on with a new leader.
In the season we are in with the coronavirus we are taking new direction and doing things different than we would have. There is not a person alive on this earth that has not been affected by this. We are living in a time in history where we are seeing a shift take place over the whole earth and each individual is getting an opportunity to self-examine and choose how they will move forward...the believer and the unbeliever.
Currently as believers, the Lord is allowing us to look at our lives where we have been desensitized to the opportunities to worship, read His word and live a life honoring and glorifying Him. If you continue to read in Deuteronomy 32, Moses writes a song and sings it to the people. It begins with comforting, and then moves into having them reflect on their life. We can go through these ebb and flows as believers. Will we believe and walk in the peace offered to us, knowing the Lord Himself has gone before us during this time, and turn our eyes and ears to Him to guide us and comfort our families and others during this time? It is not always easy for us to look at our lives with the lens of Heaven. It can be painful to see the places in our hearts we have not been choosing Him. Now is a time and opportunity to make a shift in our homes and families, to clean up our hearts and minds and lead our children in ways of righteousness.
There are so many things we could choose to turn to in this time. May we turn back to a heart of worship and adoration to the One, who holds all life in His hands. Right now, in self-examination, the unbeliever is also faced with the wrestle inside themselves to believe more. It says in Romans 1:20 “For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.”
In all this my heart reflects on three questions:
What am I choosing to bring comfort to me and my family leading up to and during this time?
In what ways have I taken for granted my right to worship and read His word and have become desensitized to the relationship I get to have with Him?
How am I praying for the unbeliever who doesn’t carry the peace that I have, to choose the One who shows Himself to all creation (especially as they press in to their mortality and face circumstances that are out of their control)?
Listen and meditate today on one of the songs from our Beltway Park Church Worship Spotify playlist: All the Earth
