Never Will I Leave You Or Forsake You

By the time you read this article it will be February 2022 already and we will be starting to see what is in store for us in the coming year. The times we are living in should be becoming crystal clear to all of us by now. You are either with Jesus or with the world. The leaders of our nations are very weak and making decisions that are completely against what our forefathers believed and against the Christian values that made our lands so great. There is now turmoil everywhere and our people are blind to what is happening. Where do we go from here? Where is our future, as there cannot be one if things continue to go on the way they are going now? The leaders of most of our churches are no better, as they seem to be scared, even terrified and have become timid and weak. The future looks bleak, but our God is waiting for us to repent and come back to Him. “For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore, the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” (Isa. 9:16-17) He is always there helping us in ways we do not even realize and waiting for us to call out to Him once we realize this world has nothing to offer unless He is involved in it and we follow His guiding hand. Someone recently quoted this statement from Charles Spurgeon and I thought it fit very well for this time where everything is empty and uncertain. “Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.” Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Based on the English Standard Version

Spurgeon continued to preach and visit the sick during the Cholera outbreak of 1854 and again in 1866. There was a time that he did become weary, but this happened, “I was returning mournfully home from a funeral, when, as God would have it, my curiosity led me to read a paper which was wafered up in a shoemaker’s window in the Great Dover Road. It did not look like a trade announcement, nor was it, for it bore, in a good bold handwriting, these words:-“Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” The effect upon my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on with my visitation of the dying, in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm. The Providence which moved the tradesman to place those verses in his window, I gratefully acknowledge; and in the remembrance of its marvelous power, I adore the Lord my God.” (The Spurgeon Library | Spurgeon and the Cholera Outbreak of 1854)

Martin Luther also continued to preach and help the sick during the Deadly Plague of 1527. “Concerning one’s demeanor, Luther made it plain that fear of death was the Devil’s work, and that no Christian should yield to it. Christ’s Resurrection should make all Christians fearless in the face of the grave. Yet Luther allowed that some are stronger in this faith than others, and may choose to go boldly into the fire of deadly danger, expecting great reward from the Lord for their service, while others are weaker and flee in the normal way. Luther said Christians who trust God and minister directly to the dying should not fear boils and infection, for in the end, caring for the sick is like caring for Christ. Jesus said, “I was sick, and you cared for me” (Matt. 25:36). John wrote that Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for others (1 John 3:16). On the other hand, Luther warned against the over-confident who underestimated the seriousness of the plague and were frivolous toward God.” (When the Deadly Outbreak Comes: Counsel from Martin Luther (thegospelcoalition.org)

The times we are in are difficult as things are much more complicated today and we are not so certain whose advice to follow. This is where we must trust in God to guide us and remember that He is our protector. As Martin Luther said fear is from the Devil, but God created us, and our bodies are His so we must be careful in the decisions we make regarding them. We must use our critical thinking during these times and make decisions based on His Word and be ready for His return. We hope to hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matt. 25:21). We do not want to weaken now when the time is so short before His return. As Jesus said “we are to be about our Father’s business”. (Luke 2:49). We are His Servant people and His Watchmen. He is counting on us to be awake and be prepared to meet Him and not to be falling asleep and become a victim to the worldly system.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So, we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Heb. 13:5-6)