The Walk of Faith

Deuteronomy 31:8
“And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”

God’s military acumen is matchless, and is employed in the life of every believer. When God addressed Israel, He admonished them to “fear not, neither be dismayed.” The reason God said this was because He had already cared for the path that they would trod, and He knew that He was there for them no matter what they would face as they moved forward through the Promised Land.

The believer should take notice of God’s presence in their life as they move forward by faith. It is easy to become fearful of the steps we take in the Christian walk, and though we don’t know what is ahead when we choose to walk by faith, we should take comfort that God is not only by our side but that He has already gone before us to run reconnaissance for our journey. There are several things that the verse above should bring comfort to your walk of faith.

First, you never walk by faith alone. There is no doubt that the walk of faith is scary because you are stepping out on the unknown to trust God’s guiding, the God whom you trust by faith. However, you can take comfort in the fact that God would never have you step out by faith without first assuring you that He will be with you every step of the way. When you ponder whether you should take the step of faith, all you have to do is look at Who is asking you to take that step, and you will realize that He will be there for you and that you won’t have to take that step alone. The fear of the step you take by faith will diminish when you see that you don’t have to take it alone because God will be there for you as you obey His command to step out.

Second, God has already been where you are going. The verse above says, “And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee…” In other words, God has already prepared the next step for you if you will just take the step. I am reminded of walking through the deep snow with my daughter. There were times when the snow was very deep, so I would take the first step in the snow and tell my daughter to follow my steps as I walked before her. This is exactly what God is telling the believer to do. God is telling the believer that He has already taken the step that He asks them to take. He already knows what you are going to face; therefore, you have nothing to fear because God will not allow you to face something that is too great for you to bear.

Third, going backward is the only direction you can go where the LORD’s presence will not be. When you look at the verse above, you will find that the LORD is before you and beside you, but He never says that He is behind you. Why would God not be behind us? God isn’t behind you because faith never takes you backward. You don’t need to fear going backwards because you have already been there; you need God to go forward by faith.

My friend, the walk of faith is a forward walk. As daunting as the walk of faith may seem, you never have to fear for God goes before you to prepare the way for you, and He walks beside you to help you as you go forward by faith. The greatest promise you can embrace as you take the walk of faith is that God “will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee.” Fear not my friend, for God has never failed you in the past, and He will not forsake you today.