Daily Archive

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you. Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭8‬

One night I got a phone call from my father. He told me that my brother had been killed in a tragic accident. I was 600 miles from home. That call came over 40 years ago and I still remember the feeling today as though it were yesterday. He’d died too soon in my book. While I know I’ll see him again someday in heaven, it still hurts that I never got to say goodbye.

The more I travel this journey called life, the more I’m made aware of its uncertainty. My story is repeated thousands, perhaps millions of times throughout the day. Pain and discouragement can come from a variety of situations. Spouses served divorce papers. Doctors delivering bad news. Dad’s not returning home from work. Life is fragile.

The loss of a loved one through death is painful to be sure, perhaps the most painful thing many of us will go through. But sometimes I think the loss of someone emotionally is even more painful. We all know (and may have experienced) the pain of people we thought loved us suddenly leaving us.

Relationship is replaced by rejection. Support is replaced by criticism. Trust is replaced with finding out you’ve been attacked behind your back and thrown under the next bus.

Some friends of mine were foster parents for years to many children of various ages. Some stayed a day or two. Others stayed for a couple months. They ended up adopting one girl at the age of seven. They loved her as their own. Yet ten years later she robbed them and ran away, never to be heard from again.

For ten years they gave her their heart. The stealing of personal possessions hurt to be sure, but the pain of stealing their heart was far more painful.

Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭8‬ gives us an amazing and comforting promise. “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Here is reality. People will leave you one way or the other. Relationships will be broken. Deception will happen. Abandonment will attack your soul.

We have a Heavenly Father who promises to always love us. We have a Savior who calls us ‘friend’. We have access to the Spirit of God who promises to lead, guide and comfort us. Don’t allow the temporary attacks of fickle relationships detract from the everlasting love God has for you!