He's With Us
Cynde Layne Wilkerson
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God. Isaiah 43:1-3
 
I love this very simple, yet powerful passage and often it is my go to scripture for comfort. It tells me that He is with me, as well as my source for relief and reassurance. The words soothe, encourage and console my heart, and let me know that no matter what I go through, the Lord is not going to allow anything overtake me.
 
Honestly, isn’t that what we want? Isn’t that what we are believing God for? To feel as if He is with us to ease our pain and to be our source for release from the anxieties, worries, and cares of this world and be our hope. In this instance, He assures Israel through the prophet that they are safe from anything that they were facing or would come up against with this natural analogy to remind them as to who He is and what He has done. He tells them none of these things; not water, fire, or rivers would He allow to harm them. I will be your source of protection, your hope, as I have always been.
 
God speaks comforting words that we can apply to our lives. He lets us know that when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overtake you: because it cannot spread beyond the limits that I’ve given it. I don’t care how swift it flows or how turbulent it gets or how deep it runs, I contain it, I control it, and I have authority over it. Then He said, when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; God is saying that the fire might be burning all around you and it might get hot but it will not come near you and neither will a flame kindle upon you; it won’t burn you and it certainly won’t consume you.
 
Simply, there will be difficult situations and conditions that we will experience and face in this life because life does happen whether we are ready or not. Yet, God is saying these things will not overtake us. We will go through a variety of occurrences that are beyond our control, however, He is in control of all things. We can take comfort in knowing that He will be there no matter what this life may bring our way. Sometimes we need a gentle reminder that He said, “I AM the Lord thy God and I will be with you.”
 
The Lord knows I needed one today. Thank you for always being so mindful of us.
 
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
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