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             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, (Deuteronomy 31:6)

 

            The most important aspect of remembering forward is remembering that we do not go alone, and the One who goes with us will not fail or forsake us. I don’t tend to remember this well. I struggle to focus on one of the few promises I’ve grasped – that God will guide me; He won’t let me miss my next exit or turn. At the very least, I’d like Him to be more like a GPS, which tells you how far away your next turn is, which way you’ll have to turn, and what highway or street you’ll be taking. God doesn’t necessarily give you much warning. We’re supposed to trust that He will give us as much warning as we need.

            But the thing about GPSes is that they’re made for the weak, timid, and comparatively independent. They tell you the next turn well in advance, so you feel in control. You know what you’re supposed to do, sometimes hours before you need to do it. The only strength or courage you need is in dealing with those relatively short distances in which traffic or traffic patterns get complicated.

            When you’re traveling with God, He sometimes takes you on detours, or down long, lonely highways that seem to lead nowhere, or on mountain paths that require that you leave your Jeep behind and go on foot, carrying everything on your back with no guarantee you’ll ever see the “vehicle” you paid so much for again.

            That’s really what remembering forward is about: courage and strength when things, we, or God are not as we want. And the good news is that each of us has areas in which we are strong and can grow in strength and courage. This is especially hard for those who are timid (and over-compensate in some areas as a result). But my prayer for myself and all of you is that we will be strong and courageous in 2023. That will reduce the difficulty of our lives because fear and weakness cost us more than strength and courage are likely to.

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