Day 376 · Year 2 · Life with God
He will never leave you
The bedrock promise of Scripture is presence, not circumstance.
Today's passage
Hebrews 13:5-6
5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
6So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Berean Standard Bible · public domain
Reflection
Two simple promises, repeated to wobbly believers across the centuries: 'I will never leave you nor forsake you,' and therefore 'the Lord is my helper; I will not fear.' This is not a denial of loneliness. It is a promise about who is with you in it. You may be in a season without the friends, the family, the community you long for. None of that erases the presence Christ promised. Ask him to make that presence real to you today — and ask him to lead you, in time, to a real church family where you can be known.
From the great tradition · paraphrased
Charles Spurgeon · Puritans & Post-Reformation · 19th c. · England
Charles Spurgeon, who battled deep depression, preached this kind of promise repeatedly — that the believer's bedrock is not the felt presence of friends but the unshakeable presence of God.
Paraphrase only. Scripture, not any teacher, is the authority.
Think it through
- What two things does God promise in verse 5?
- What conclusion does verse 6 draw from those promises?
- Where do you most need to know God's presence today?
A prayer to pray
Tell God plainly that you feel alone. Ask him to make Hebrews 13:5 real to you, and to lead you to people who can also be near.