FEAR NOT: Because God Is
Day 3I Myself Will Go With You
Scripture
Genesis 46:2–4 · · ESV
Jacob was on his way to Egypt. Everything he owned was traveling with him, and somewhere ahead was Egypt, a place he had never called home. Behind him was the land God promised to his grandfather Abraham, to his father Isaac, and then personally promised to Jacob. The land where he buried his beloved Rachel after she gave birth to Benjamin. The land where he buried his father, Isaac.
And for many painful years, it was the land where he believed Joseph had died.
He had once held Joseph’s blood-stained coat in his hands and believed his son was dead.
But now there was joy.
Joseph was alive.
And waiting for him in Egypt.
As Jacob traveled toward Egypt, he stopped at Beersheba and offered sacrifices to God.
And there, in the night, God called his name.
“Jacob, Jacob.”
Then came the reassurance Jacob needed.
“Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt … I myself will go down with you.”
I myself.
Not merely, I will be with you.
I will go down with you. God Himself would accompany Jacob.
And then God added something we could easily read past:
“I will also bring you up again.”
Even Egypt would not be the end of the promise. God knew where the journey would lead. Jacob would die in Egypt and be buried in Canaan, and God’s promise would also reach beyond Jacob to his descendants.
God did not give Jacob every detail of the road ahead. He did not explain everything that would happen in Egypt. He did not promise that nothing difficult would ever happen there.
He gave Jacob something better.
Himself.
And when the vision ended, Scripture records no long speech from Jacob.
“Then Jacob set out from Beersheba.”
God spoke.
Jacob moved.
Sometimes faith isn’t knowing exactly where the road will lead. Sometimes it is simply taking the next step because God has promised to be with His people.
I understand part of Jacob’s heart.
There are seasons we know will eventually come, yet when they arrive, they still feel unfamiliar. I am walking into one of those times now. Some of the voices I leaned on for much of my life are gone. There are things I still wish I could tell them. Moments I wish I could still pick up the phone or sit with them once more.
There are familiar parts of life I cannot carry into this new season with me.
Yet I am moving forward.
And God is moving with me.
Perhaps you are standing at your own Beersheba. Something familiar is behind you, and the road ahead looks different from the one you expected. Maybe you are beginning again after loss, entering a new season, or simply realizing that life will never again look the same as it once did.
The God who was faithful behind you is already the God ahead of you.
FEAR NOT when the road ahead is unfamiliar.
BECAUSE GOD IS the One who goes with you.
What change in your life has been difficult to face, even when you know it’s time to move forward?
Prayer
Some roads are difficult for me because they lead away from what I have known and loved. I do not know everything waiting for me ahead, but You do.
When I hesitate at the edge of something unfamiliar, remind me that I am not walking there alone. You have been faithful behind me, and You will be faithful ahead of me.
Give me courage for the next step and help me trust that You will be with me.
Amen.
Amelia