Isaiah 43:2

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

If you’ve got the impression that following God will give you the smoothest journey through life, you obviously haven’t read the Bible! From first to last in the Old Testament we discover that following God often involves suffering and rejection. In the New Testament, we meet Jesus, who despite being fully man and fully God saw suffering at its worst, even to the point of death on the cross. As He promised, His disciples were hated just as He had been, and most of them suffered terribly for their faith.

In our verse today, God says it how it is. He recognises honestly that His hearers would suffer in all sorts of ways. They would be confronted by deep and threatening waters and even have to face fire, but through it all God would be with them. The threats of life could never break their constant relationship with Him. Paul speaks very similarly in his letter to the Romans. In chapter 8, he concludes: “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

If you don’t know God as your own personal friend, I am sad to say that the future is full of threats and uncertainty. But if you do know God and walk in His ways, you can look to the future with peace and confidence because you know that whatever happens, your loving heavenly Father will be right there beside you.

Question

Are you looking to the future with peace and confidence?

Prayer

Loving Heavenly Father, I thank You that You promise to be with me whatever I face in the future. Amen