‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.’ - Isaiah 43:2
Maybe these months have felt like being thrown into a fire, or plunged into a flood. Right here is where the Savior says, ‘I will be with you.’ The One who saves is the One who is with us (Matt 1:21-23).
As Elisabeth Elliot reminds us, ‘Out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God.’ Even hindsight may not provide the kind of clarity and validation of excruciating circumstance, but I believe that even in the middle of the pain we can know the withness of God.
We are never abandoned, forsaken or left as orphans (Ps 16:10, Ps 138:8, Jn 14:18). Hear the words of the Savior and believe: ‘And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ Matt 28:20
Lord, ‘I call to You from the ends of the earth when my heart is without strength. Lead me to the rock that is high above me…’ (Ps 61:2, HCSB), in the name of the One who is always with me, amen.
Learning,
AB