Never Will I Leave You

"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."
-Joshua 1:5

As the Israelites were about to conquer the Promised Land in Joshua 1:5-6, God reassured Joshua and the children of Israel by reminding them of how committed He was to their success. He told Joshua, their leader, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” In addition, God instructed Joshua to “be strong and courageous.”

In this life, we face many uncertainties. We face the uncertainty of what each day holds, whether we will make it home to our families, whether we will get a bad report from the doctor, whether we will have enough money to pay our bills, etc... In these times of confusion and uncertainty, it's good to know that there is something that we can be certain about. We can be certain about God’s love and commitment for His children. God told Joshua that he would never leave him, and this promise was repeated again in Hebrews 13:5. God wants us to know that no matter what life may throw at us, He will be right there by our side. No matter how bad things may get, He will be right there in the trenches with us to see us through the fight.

God had to remind Joshua how He had been there for Moses and Israel in the past. Now, God has to remind us of how he has been there for so many of our brother and sister firefighters. This is not the first time that Houston firefighters have had to face uncertainty and adversity. This is not the first time that this department has gone through a period of hardship, disappointment, and change. And it won't be the last. Just like God has helped Houston firefighters get through difficult times in the past, He will also help us get through this present storm.

Like Joshua, we too are commanded to be strong and courageous. As firefighters, we face danger all day long, and risk our lives daily for people we don’t know (and God has a special blessing awaiting us because of this, Galatians 6:9). However, what God is asking us to do now is to not only trust Him through the physical danger, but to also trust him through the emotional and spiritual devastation that is associated with uncertainty. It's easy to trust God when things are going well in your life, but you find out how strong your faith is when you are in the midst of a storm. God can use a storm to water and strengthen your faith so that you will be prepared to do His work. Even in the midst of layoffs and demotions, God can use these events to strengthen our faith. All we have to do is place our hope in the guarantee that God will always be right by our side no matter what happens. You can be certain that God always takes care of his children.

-Captain Rinthian Pickney

HFD Station 42C