By: Steve Wilmot
Would you be afraid to walk down a dark alley at midnight in the most dangerous section of town if the biggest, meanest, strongest guy in town walked beside you?
Would you be worried about paying your bills and providing for your family monetarily if you were friends with the richest man in town who promised to provide for you in time of need?
Would you be discouraged about your constant failure to overcome a bad habit or addiction if someone who had overcome the same habit or addiction promised to be with you 24/7 to watch you and help you and talk you through every temptation?
Would you feel inferior if the most popular person in town took you under his wing and promised to stick with you and be your friend?
Would you feel hopeless about your marriage if the best marriage coach in the world moved in with you to train you and your spouse how to have a great relationship and move your marriage from on the brink of divorce to “happily ever after”?
Wouldn’t your answer in each scenario be “No, I would not feel hopeless or worried or afraid or discouraged.
Having someone walk with me through each of these crises would make a world of difference in how I feel about them and what I’d do.”
Well, you do have someone who is with you no matter what you encounter in life. One of the most repeated phrases in the Bible is God “will be with you.”
After Israel settled into the Promised Land, the Midianites invaded and enslaved them. So, God sent a message to Gideon that he’d been chosen to drive them out.
Gideon felt inadequate, afraid, and like he was the least qualified person in Israel. “‘Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family’” (Judges 6.15).
But even though Gideon felt unqualified, he was God’s man, and he gave him a pledge and a promise: “The Lord answered, ‘I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites’” (Judges 6.16).
Over and over, God’s promise to be with his people drove away worry and discouragement. It rekindled hope in their hearts. They knew if God was with them, there was nothing to fear or worry about.
There wasn’t anything they couldn’t do. Because God was the Almighty God, faith and boldness increased and moved them to do amazing things they never thought they could do.
Know what? God offers to be with you through every challenge you encounter. When you feel inferior or inadequate. In what looks like hopeless situations. During times when you’re discouraged over your inability to stop giving in to temptation.
Are you afraid or discouraged? God is with you. “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41.10).
Are you unsure about making the right decision? God is with you. “What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go” (Genesis 28.15).
Are you afraid about doing something you know God wants you to do? God is with you. “The Lord appeared to Isaac on the night of his arrival. ‘I am the God of your father, Abraham,’ he said. ‘Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you’” (Genesis 26.24).
Does the fear of what other people will say or do put the brakes on doing what you know you should do? God is with you.
“And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!…They will fight you, but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Jeremiah 1.8, 19).
Are you afraid to tell someone how they can have a life changing relationship with Jesus? God is with you. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations… And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28.19-20).
Do you fear opposition in carrying out an assignment God has given you? God is with you. “No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you” (Joshua 1.5).
Are you in the middle of a tough time and it feels like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel? God is with you. “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you” (Isaiah 43.2).
The God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills is with you. Why worry about finances? The God for whom nothing is impossible is with you. What is there to be discouraged or feel hopeless about?
The God who loves you so much that he died for you and adopted you as his very own child is with you.
What is there to make you feel inferior or inadequate?
God is with you. Let that truth sink in. God. Is. With. You. Yes, YOU! May this reality transform you today. God is with you!
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.