The Promise

When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned. The hard trials that come will not hurt you.

These words of great comfort are found in the 43rd chapter of Isaiah. The Lord God speaks them to His chosen people through His prophet. He assures them that His love for them is that of the kinsman redeemer and protector, that they are considered a part of His holy family. This blessing was given, not because of the worth of the Jews. Over and over again they had betrayed Him, strayed from the path of righteousness and defiled His name. But the promise comes because of the love of the Father for His chosen people and the abundant grace He bestows on them. We see a similar pattern in the Shepherd’s psalm. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me. It is the ever present power of the Deliverer in the face of the enemy.

The real joy of these scriptures, however, is the inclusion of all believers as the new chosen people. To the Jew first but also to the Greek, the Testament explains. The church is the New Jerusalem and we are the family of God. His promise made to the race that would deliver the Messiah now identifies us as family and allows us to know the joy of the assurance that He is always with us. Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman at the well that the worship of God would no longer be determined by physical boundaries created by religious groups. Instead, with Christ as the High Priest, we are welcomed into the presence of God.

We must not fail to understand that we live in the world of man. The scripture does not promise absence of the problems and pains of earthly life. The verses read, when you pass through deep waters, when you pass through fire, the hard troubles that come. The Israelites understood. They had been pursued through the waters of the Red Sea, survived the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, and endured captivity and famine. As with them, we do not have the solace of Eden, but our faith carries us with the knowledge that we will never be abandoned or forsaken. Jesus promised His disciples on the night He was arrested that the Spirit of God would be with them in His absence, leading them and providing direction. Let not your heart be troubled or afraid, He told them. We, too, can control our fears because our strength is not of this world. Our vision is set to a higher plain. Neither death nor life, neither messenger from heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today or what happens tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below – not anything in the whole world has the power to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is this love that defines us and gives us peace.

And when we pass through deep waters, He will be with us.