To Encourage You

Isaiah 43:2 “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.”

One of the things to keep in mind as we read God’s Word is that it is a spiritual book about eternal things.  Yes, it speaks to our physical situations in the here and now, but it speaks to them from a spiritual and eternal perspective.  One example of this is found in Isaiah 43:2 above.  This verse speaks about the danger of rising and overwhelming flooding as well as the danger of fire.  So, what is this talking about?  When it says that God will be with us as we “pass through the waters” and that we can be exposed to fire and not be burned, does it mean that literal floods can’t touch a believer and that fire will never burn them?  Well, I can tell you from experience that floods can indeed affect a believer, as I’ve been through several in the house we used to live in along Penns Creek, and we definitely suffered damage and hardship from each of them.  And Christians can drown in high water, the same as an atheist.  As for fire, one only need read the accounts of Christian martyrs like Jan Hus who was burned at the stake, to know that fire can kill a believer just like it can kill anyone else. 

So, what are we to make of the passage above?  What is it talking about?  Well, if we look elsewhere in the Word of God, “water” and its damaging effects is often used as a metaphor for overwhelming circumstances in life.  For example, in Psalm 42, as the psalmist laments the overwhelming difficulties that are facing him, he says this: “Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.” We see similar language in Psalm 69 where David says this: “Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.” In these passages the Bible is talking about overwhelming circumstances in life where a person feels that they are “in over their head,” in the language we use today.  If you’ve been there, you know the feeling. 

But then what about fire? What might this refer to? Again, as we compare Scripture with Scripture, we see that “fire” is often used in the Bible to speak of difficult trials that people face.  One such place is in 1 Peter 4:12 which says this: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” And then in Isaiah 48:10, five chapters after Isaiah 43 and the verse above, it says this: “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.”  So, we see that “fire” can mean a very difficult trial. If you’ve been in such a trial, you know full well that “fire” is a very good description of what such a trial is like. 

So, as we compare Scripture with Scripture to make sense of God’s Word, we see that in every overwhelming “flood” that comes into our lives, and in every fiery trial that we pass through, the Lord is very near us.  He will not leave us nor forsake us. Just as Noah rode out the devastating world-wide flood in the ark, the Lord is our protection and way of escape when the overwhelming circumstances of life try to swallow us alive. And as there was a fourth man in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Babylon, so we are never alone as believers in any fiery trial we face.  We can be sure that in no matter what circumstance we face, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you (the Great Shepherd) are with me (Psalm 23:4).” 

So, are you overwhelmed by some circumstance at the present time?  Are you in the midst of a fiery trial that threatens to consume you?  If so, look up, for the Lord is with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you in whatever difficulty you face. You can be sure that “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). And you can be absolutely certain that if you are a believer, the overwhelming and fiery circumstances you are facing are never meant to destroy you. Rather, they are meant to refine you as a fire refines gold. They are meant to build your faith, and make you ever more useful as a servant of God if you will just hold fast to the One who the wind, waves (and fire) obey, till you pass through what you are facing to come out the other side.