even in the desert, i fought for you...

How beautiful and faithful and good is our Lord.

I'm reading Deuteronomy for the next however many weeks it takes me. This verse overwhelmed me with God's provision and love:

"Then I said to you, 'Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.'"  -1:29-31

There are some phenomenal things in this verse. God says he will go before us - every place we are, every day we live, he has been there already and has prepared people, places, and situations for us. He prepares blessings, he prepares ways for us to love and obey him, and he prepares people for us to serve. How amazing that he cares enough to go ahead of us and do that! Not only does he prepare things, but he fights for us. Even in the desert - those times where we are wondering, where we're confused and doubting and far away - he's still fighting for us. He fights against the evil that wants to destroy us and make us ineffective and far from the Lord. He's constantly fighting those things for us. And if God is on our side, who can be against us?

The verse also says "like a father carries his son..." I can immediately name two distinct times in my life where I knew that the Lord was carrying me. The Lord carries us strongly, dearly, with the abundant love that a father has for his child. The word says that the Lord will carry us until we reach this place - the place that he has already gone ahead and prepared for us, all the while fighting for us against whatever keeps us from reaching this place. 

So shall I be afraid? God calls for our ultimate trust in him. He's already told us that he goes ahead before us, he fights for us, and he'll even carry us to the place he wants us to be. What a beautiful thing to rest in that assurance that he will take care of everything if we just let him.