“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 (NLT)

 

Listen up, leaders, and take note of the enemy’s double-punch strategy!

The Word here warns us to be alert to fear and discouragement.  Fear intimidates and paralyses.  Discouragement sucks the wind out of your sails and neutralizes your vision.

God gives us a simple but extremely potent antidote to this left-right combination.  He doesn’t so much instruct us how to defeat fear in four easy lessons, nor does He try to explain why we shouldn’t be discouraged.  He retorts with the all powerful and pervading promise:

“I will PERSONALLY go ahead of you and I WILL BE WITH YOU.”

If this doesn’t satisfy your concerns then with respect, it may be that you are entirely underestimating WHO is speaking here, and how much He cares for you!

As if the former is not enough, He then reminds us that He will NEVER fail us nor abandon us.  I’d call this an iron clad guarantee that…

The greatest counter-punch combination to fear and discouragement is to trust in the presence and attentiveness of the God of all the Universe. HE IS WITH YOU right now!

Photo: Flickr