Never Ever!

Hebrews 13:5b 'because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

I caught the last few minutes of Focus on the family on my way to work yesterday, and boy I’m sure glad I did! The guest speaker was Pastor Brady Boyd who is a senior pastor at New life church. He shared a very powerful story about being bullied as a kid. It all began when he was asked to replace an older boy in the high school baseball team (who was kicked off for unruly behaviour). Pastor Brady’s team mates must have been unhappy with that so they decided to ‘teach him a lesson’. One day after practice, when the coach was nowhere in sight, his team mates grabbed him, tied his hands, tied a rope round his neck and dragged him around the baseball field. By the time they let him go you can only imagine how bruised and bleeding his neck was.

He described his dad as a ‘big guy’ who had taught him to defend himself, but he felt powerless to do so in the situation he found himself in. He mentioned being overcome by shame for his inability to defend himself, so attempted to hide the bruises from his family. Luckily his brother saw it and reported the incident to his father, who promptly asked for an explanation. His father told him not to go to school the following morning that he would go instead. Later the next day his father came home and informed him that he could go to school. Pastor Brady said he was never ever bullied again and everybody (including teachers) was extra nice to him till he graduated. He said he never found out what his father said or did that resulted in such a drastic change, but from that day on he felt like his father was ALWAYS with him. That statement absolutely blew my mind! If he can feel that way about his father who did that one thing for him, then what about God who does much more for us each and every day?

The bible tells us in Isaiah 49:15-16 [And the Lord answered] Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands; [O Zion] your walls are continually before Me, that God is willing and able to do much more for us than those who claim to love us most.

The bible is full of promises from God about Him NEVER EVER leaving us.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Joshua 1:5 “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

1Chronicles 28:20 David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.

Matthew 28:20 ”and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So why do we feel lonely? Why do we feel abandoned? If Pastor Brady could always feel the presence of an absent father then why can’t we feel the presence of God who IS ALWAYS with us? Do we even believe God when He says He is ALWAYS with us?

I think as humans we automatically assume that God always being with us means that we will never suffer or have to go through trying times- but that’s not the case. Isaiah 43:3 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you” tells us that Gods presence is a guarantee that when we go through these trials we will come out victorious and not a guarantee that we will not go through trials.

He is always there, you may not see or feel Him- but just believe that He is there, because He is.