Day 5: Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)
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.
Fear and discouragement often go together. It is so much easier to be discouraged when we feel afraid. It is so much easier to be afraid when we are discouraged. It’s kind of like bacon and eggs, Laurel and Hardy, peanut butter and jam, or any other pairing here that makes sense to you.
What we may not be used to, is encouragement. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.”
It seems so simple! Why wouldn’t it be simple? God is with us. He is our God. He will strengthen us and help us. We are not alone. We do not have to be afraid or discouraged; God’s got this!
It seems so easy that I could stop writing here, but I find we often need more convincing.
“Really? How could this possibly be true? How could God possibly be everywhere at once? Why would he care if I am afraid or discouraged? No one else cares!”
That can be what it feels like when we’re being beaten down by the world, everyone is mean to us and it feels like we have no hope.
There is always hope.
There is always a way.
Jesus.
God made a way for us through Jesus, and through Jesus, God is with us. He is everywhere at once, because he’s God. He’s not human. He’s not limited like us. He will never leave us or lead us astray. God is our cheerleader, our best and most loyal fan; our soft shoulder to cry on when we feel all alone, and our dearest Father, who will pick us up, dust off the dirt, and set us on our feet again when we’ve fallen down.
God cares for us. He loves us. God has known us since before we existed, and will know us forever. You don’t invest that much time in someone you don’t like.
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For the rest of the entry, check out 21 Days of Encouragement:A Devotional
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