Even Among Fire-breathing Dragons

See, the LORD your God

has set the land before you.

Go up,

take possession,

as the LORD, the God of your fathers,

            has told you.

Do not fear

        or be dismayed.

                  Deuteronomy 1. 21

(God, You want me to go where,

       stay in place, or do what?

How does God reply?

  Do not fear or be dismayed.

Because trusting God

  will always take us

by a different route.

Fear and dismay promise everything

      but lead us right over a cliff,

   deflate all our tires,

   and abandon us on the side of the road.

Trusting God means a different journey,

    different trajectory,

    and a way different outcome.

There still may be

    opposition or adversaries

    or fire-breathing dragons there,

but we navigate in new ways

      because we trust Him.

God gives us His courage,

     His strength, His shield,

     and His presence along the way.

As one of our girls once told me,

"I wouldn't have been afraid

             if I knew you were here."

He guides us through

        for His glory, even in this.

What has He set before us today

    to follow Him into?

Even right where we are.)

O LORD,

You redeem the hard places

  to bring us into

        a closer relationship with You.

You guide us to new understandings

             of Your steadfast love.

Help us to see this barren land,

   this uncultivated rock hard ground,

as an opportunity

        to bring the name of Jesus here.

When we trust You,

    fear and dismay have

    no power over us.

May Your Presence bear fruit

     in our lives

     and for all those who follow.

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