It’s Wednesday! It’s week 5 of our Word Wednesday Challenge. Welcome to Deuteronomy. (By the way, I had to take a little pause before I wrote this, because I channel-surfed onto the most the most epic movie scene ever written: the iocaine powder dialogue from The Princess Bride. Just thought I’d share.)
Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)–The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
I love this verse (and the dozens like it in the Bible), because I still struggle to remember that God goes with me… everywhere… always. It’s so easy to get bogged down in my plans and worries and concerns that I miss the fact He is right there beside me.
But the cool part of this verse is in the very first six words: The Lord Himself goes before you…
Not only does He go with us, He goes before us. Everywhere we go, He has already been. He’s already prepared the way. No detour in our lives surprises Him. No “out of the blue” happening catches Him off guard. By the time we get there, He’s seen it all. Oh, if that’s not comforting, I don’t know what is. Why worry about tomorrow? God’s already seen it.
So, as you peruse Deuteronomy, what verse leaps out at you? Share it in the comments of this blog or blog about it yourself and leave us a link. Just be sure to link back to us. Looking forward to hearing what you find!
-JB
Jen says
Don’t know that I’ll get around to blogging this one today, but the verse I picked out is Deut. 4:7– What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 🙂
Jodie says
Nice one!
Dawn Lucowitz says
There were a few verses that stuck out to me, but the one I wanted to highlight this week is Deuteronomy 29:5-6 – During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your fee. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.
This passage spoke to me this week more than it probably would have at any other point in time because I am currently working on the First Place 4 Health bible study. This past week I was reminded that God is more than enough for me. In my head I knew that, but I haven’t been living like that. Seriously, if God can have thousands of people wandering around a desert for 40 years and not have to replace shoes or give them” bread and fermented drinks”, I can absolutely eat a few less desserts and run a few extra miles a week. God is what I need, not that extra trip to the pantry.
In my bible study this week another woman pointed out that all her life she’s had various workout partners and teams of people she worked out with, but this past week she got a new workout partner, God. How much better can we get than that? After all, he created me and knows exactly what I need.
Maybe this seems like a stretch for my verse, and I don’t really articulate what I want to say so well, but that’s what I took from Deuteronomy.
Jodie says
Awesome, Dawn! I always look forward to seeing what you say…
Carol J. Garvin says
Jodi, I didn’t comment last Wednesday when you mentioned your week 4 verse from Numbers, but with the addition of this week’s verse, I have to say that these were the very two verses that I hung on to during a nasty go ’round with cancer a few years ago. In fact, I had this one from Deuteronomy printed out and taped to the bathroom mirror!
The other verse that jumps out at me now is verse 7: “The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.” Sometimes I need reminding that through my entire life he has always been there for me and met my every need.
When he says things like, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley,” and “Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge,” I am reminded, too, that when we respond in obedience to his leading, even when we can’t see the destination, we can trust his directive because “he goes before [us] and will be with [us]”
Thanks for taking me back to these verses today. 🙂
Jodie says
Carol, this may be one of the most amazing comments ever written on a post. We will have to chat sometime. 🙂 Thank you so much!
Carol J. Garvin says
Now that’s an interesting reaction to what I thought was a pretty straight-forward comment! But e-mail me anytime.