Deuteronomy 31:8 reads “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave your nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Man, God has gone before me? How do I begin to wrap my mind around that? He knows what the future holds and he holds my future in his hands? Now, this provides peace and encouragement. When I think about the struggles I will face in the future it fortifies my faith knowing I am not alone. I have someone on my side who will NEVER leave me. He will NEVER forsake me. That’s a promise. But, then I got to thinking about this verse and meditating on the idea that God has foreknowledge. Wait, if he is all-knowing then when I get caught up in myself, my sins, my screw ups and my self-sabotage this does not surprise him? This does not catch him off guard?
Let’s think for a moment. If I woke up today and knew my sister was going to belittle me 6 months from now (hypothetically speaking, of course, because my sister is a wonderful woman) do you think I would be happy with her…knowing in just a few months she was going to hurt me? Nope. I would automatically without hesitation or reservation hold her future sins against her. It’s already challenging to forgive and forget my past sins and past sins that others have done to me. Can you imagine if we had to forgive future sins TODAY? Would that even be possible? It’s difficult to comprehend a love of that capacity. I woke up this morning to a God that loves me despite my past sins, present sins and even the sins I will commit six days from now, six months from now or six years from now. Yes, one day I might question that God is good. One day I might question my trust in God. One day I might shake my fists at the sky and ask “WHY?” One day I will hurt my heavenly father with my doubt – I know I already have, but we are talking future tense here. How great is his infinite love and forgiveness that this morning he did not wake up with a grudge against me? How amazing is his mercy and grace that when I prayed this morning for myself, for others and worshipped Him for who He is he didn’t respond and say, “Tiffany, I know you love me today and rely on my today, but in two weeks you aren’t going to trust me, so I’m just going to start ignoring your prayers today for what you are going to do in two weeks?” When I think about his love my mind automatically gravitates towards Romans 8:38-39 which says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It doesn’t matter whether tomorrow brings brings doubts or delights. Christ’s love will always surround me, dwell inside of me and overflow out of me. I will never be separated from his love. His love never fails. Forgiveness for the past, present and future is yours today.