Pastor Charlie Rousey
Deuteronomy 31
1 And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
2 And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
3 The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said.
4 And the Lord shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.
5 And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
8 And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
In Deuteronomy 31, we see Moses give instructions to the children of Israel. He reminds them that their time together is coming to an end and they must complete the journey without his leadership and guidance. He tells them that it will now be God that goes before and leads them but he also tells them that another man will take his place. He then tells them to be strong and of a good courage.
There have been times in my life that people I look to for answers and guidance were no longer there. I remember standing beside my mother’s bed with my dad and sister as she was going into her second cancer surgery. Her instructions were given to us as the nurses stood in the hallway and waited. Most of the instruction was directed at me and what I was to do once she was gone. I remember the fear we all faced that day. It was my mother that always had the answers and knew what was to be done and it did not seem possible that is a few months she would no longer be there to help guide us.
That was almost 20 years ago, and I look back in my life and see the people that God brought into my life to help me. As I think back to these people, I am amazed at all the godly men and women that have helped and encouraged me in this journey. Moses goes on to tell Joshua that his responsibility was to make them follow God and inherit the land. I have had friends that pushed me to do right and those are the ones that showed real friendship to me.
Even more important than Joshua taking his place was the fact that the leader of this entire 40-year endeavor was not going anywhere. Leaving Egypt and landing in the Promised Land was not Moses’ idea. As a matter of fact, he was against it. All the care and guidance for this trip were given by God, and he was not going anywhere but with them.
Moses’ final words here were that the God that used him to lead would continue to lead them. He would go before them as they went into battle and with is help, they would not fail. God would never leave them and so why would they be afraid. I give testimony to the fact that those I leaned on at that time have guided me but have left, but He never has nor ever will. Let’s decide that through these times we will turn away from fear and to faith.