“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.“ Deuteronomy 31:6
It had been forty years of wandering in the desert, but finally, they were at the cusp of the Promised Land. Since he would not be entering with them, God asked Moses to give final instructions concerning the Law to his people. In his concluding remarks, Moses encouraged the people to be strong and courageous, and not to fear the nations they were about to dispossess.
Fear is as old as man. After Adam and Eve had disobeyed and eaten from the tree God had instructed them not to, we read in Genesis 3:8-10 that God came looking for them. When God called out for him, Adam responded, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid…and I hid myself.“
Since then, fear has been part of the human consciousness. Fear is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain or harm.“ At various times in our lives, we all experience some level of this unpleasant emotion or anxiety about a danger, pain, or harm that might happen in the future. Whether it is sickness, singleness, joblessness, infertility or financial insecurities, fear can have a crippling effect on our lives. As the Israelites looked at what lay ahead, they couldn’t help but be afraid. This was a nation wearied by forty years of wandering in the wilderness. They had no army or training in war, yet they were about to face nations many times its size, with standing armies and vexed in warfare. Moses knew their emotional state, hence his exhortation in Deuteronomy 31:6
Moses’ exhortation for them not to fear wasn’t just a pep talk. He wasn’t asking them to think positively about the future or make positive confessions. Instead, his exhortation was rooted in the faithfulness of the covenant-keeping God. He had promised never to leave or forsake them, and that is a truth they could build their lives on. This is the truth that must encourage every Christian. We may not know what the future holds, but we can certainly trust the God who holds the future. He has promised never to leave or forsake us, and because of that, we can confidently face the future without fear.
