God Will Never Fail or Forsake You

Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time 

By Beth DeCristofaro

When Moses had finished speaking to all Israel, he said to them, “I am now one hundred and twenty years old and am no longer able to move about freely; besides, the LORD has told me that I shall not cross this Jordan. … it is the LORD, your God, who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:1-2, 6)

“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me."  (Matthew 18:3-5) 

Piety

Lord, in the moments in which I cannot move freely because of infirmity, life circumstance, compulsions, distractions, fears or doubts, fill me with the certainty that you march with me and will never fail or forsake me.  I give you thanks for my life and for the many opportunities which lead to you.  Amen

Study 

Developmental theories of human growth speak about the need to differentiate oneself from a parent, to see the parent and accept the parent as fallible yet loving.  Popular parlance speaks of “cutting the apron strings.”  We seek as humans to come into our own, to assert ourselves, to find out who we truly are.

Perhaps Moses and Jesus would smile at these theories.  While helpful to a maturing individual, they do not do much good explaining what our relationship with a loving God might look like – and perhaps such theories even steer us a bit off course.  Moses certainly had proven himself in so many ways – leader, faithful, committed, brave (or at least persistent under fire), advocate, priest, mystic.  The list can go on.  But in this speech, Moses truly shows himself as humble child.  He does not stand on his experience and his age.  Rather he knows his place before his God and trusts without reservation in God’s love, mercy and justice.  Like a child, Moses accepts what God’s hands entrusts to him rather than what Moses, himself, thinks he deserves. 

Action 

It takes Moses a good 40 years to get to the place where he can say sincerely and without bitterness that while God has forbidden him to enter the land of plenty, God does not forsake Him or God’s chosen people.  Are there vistas which I am surveying, ideas which I hold, items or people which I want to possess rather than choosing to be God’s humble and trusting child?  Give them up.  Leave them so that God instead will fill you.