The Never-Forsaking Father (Hebrews 13:5-6)

When was the last time we thought God left us? Do we turn to what God says or do we turn to our own fears?

Understand this passage in Hebrews 13:5-6, “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 man do to me?”

I want us to focus on these two statements, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you,” and “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Never will I leave you. It is a promise and assurance that God will never leave us for any sort of reason: sin, pride, arrogance, ignorance, and selfishness.

Never will I forsake you. There will be moments where we go through difficult life. I’ve been talking about hardships, sufferings, and struggles that we face in our lives, and we feel that God has left us. However, that is just our “thoughts”.

Therefore, most often, we think that God left us because we sinned against, which is a justified point and fair, but that is not true. When we through depression, pain, and stress, we THINK that God left us.

That passage, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”, was referenced from the Old Testament verse in Joshua 1:5. The Israelites were very rebellious against Moses and Aaron. If you know how the story goes, they weren’t able to persevere through due to their lack of faith in God. They would rather die serving Pharaoh the king of Egypt. The story ends like this, they got to the promise land as God has promised!

They went through a lot of oppositions on their way. It was not through their own strength that destroyed their enemies while they were still outnumbered. It was all because of God’s promise to the Israelites, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” It was God’s amazing provision led them to where to they should go. It was God who was there to defeat the enemies who opposed them when He said, “I will hand them over to you.” It was God who handed Goliath, the giant, over to David with a sling and a stone in one hit.

The antidote to "love of money" is contentment, which comes from trusting in God’s promised provision (Deut 31:6; 8).

“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” This passage is referenced in Psalm 118:6. It applies the idea of trusting in God for more than just financial needs (even during persecution, Heb 13:3).

If God was there for them, then no doubt for us, who believes, that He will not leave and forsake us. Have faith and trust that God is also our ultimate provider.

As we share the gospel with our friends, remember what Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

God says, “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you” Do you hear Him saying it to you? Does it sound true to you personally? If you don’t have that kind of assurance of God, then be still and know that He is God and listen to Him again.