WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 · VERSE OF THE DAY
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
— Deuteronomy 31:6
Context
Moses is 120. He's about to die on the wrong side of the Jordan, and he knows it. The people he led out of Egypt — who've spent forty years complaining, panicking, and building golden calves — are about to invade a land full of fortified cities without him. This isn't a pep talk at summer camp. It's a transfer of authority in front of a generation that has every reason to be terrified. The phrase 'be strong and courageous' appears six times in Deuteronomy 31 and Joshua 1, hammered home because courage wasn't their default setting. Moses is addressing the gap between God's promise and their present capacity.
What it's actually saying
The Hebrew construction here is blunt: 'ḥăzaq we'ĕmāṣ' — literally 'be strong and be resolute.' It's not feel-strong; it's act-strong even when you don't feel it. Then the reason: 'for the LORD your God goes with you.' The verb 'goes' (hōlēk) is a participle — continuous action. Not 'will go someday' or 'went once.' Right now, ongoing. The final phrase — 'he will not leave you or forsake you' — uses two different Hebrew words ('āzab and rāpâ) that together cover every kind of abandonment: active desertion and passive neglect. God won't do either. This is covenant language. Moses is reminding them that presence, not performance, is what makes them different from every other tribe trying to carve out territory in Canaan.
How to apply it today
Identify one thing you're avoiding because you don't feel ready. Not something reckless — something you actually need to do but keep postponing until you feel braver, more qualified, less afraid. The verse doesn't say 'wait until you're strong.' It says 'be strong' — a command, which implies it's possible even when the feeling isn't there yet. The logic is backwards from what we expect: you don't get brave and then act. You act because God's already there, and courage follows. Do the next small true thing. See if the presence shows up in the doing.
Sit with this
Write about a time you felt abandoned — by a person, a plan, a version of yourself. What would it mean if that abandonment wasn't the last word? Not fixed, not undone — but not the last word.
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