Moses is reviewing the wilderness journey for the new generation. At one point the people were afraid of the Canaanites, afraid they weren't strong enough. Moses says: The LORD your God, who goes before you, will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt.
I'm reading this passage to my son, who's anxious about starting high school. He's afraid of the social structure, the difficulty, the newness. And I find myself saying what Moses said: the LORD your God will fight for you.
But what does that mean practically? It doesn't mean the high school will magically become easy. It doesn't mean he won't feel scared sometimes. It means God is on his side. It means God's resources are greater than the obstacles. It means he's not alone.
Moses is reminding a generation that didn't experience Egypt of God's track record. You weren't there, but your parents were. Look at what God did. Look at the pattern. Look at the character. That's your evidence that God is for you now.
I'm learning to do the same thing in my parenting and my faith. When I'm afraid, I look back. God was faithful then. God was fighting for me then. God didn't abandon me in Egypt or the wilderness. He won't abandon me in high school or this job or this marriage either. The evidence is backward-looking, but it points forward.
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