THE GREAT PROMISE IN PAIN
"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."
Isaiah 43:2 (NLT)
There’s an expression some people use when the pressure is high. They say The heat is on. We all know what it’s like to feel pressure in an unhealthy way. Maybe you’re there now. Those seasons can be overwhelming. The Israelites were in a season where the heat was on them. In the verse above, God is telling the Jewish people in Babylonian captivity that He would be with them in their most troubling times, even when they couldn’t see or feel that He was with them. He wanted them to know He understood what they were facing.
Do you know the most central promise in the Bible? The most central promise in the Bible is these five words we see above, “I will be with you.” This is what God is communicating over and over again in the Bible. It’s His great promise. He reminds the people in captivity by using imagery from their past. The water represents the Red Sea. God opened the Red Sea for miles to allow the Israelites to walk on dry land (Exodus 14:21-22). The fire represents Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego in the furnace, who came out completely untouched (Daniel 3).
I disagree when people say God will never give you more than you can handle. If you’re in a difficult time now, you know. It feels like more than you can take. This promise isn’t in the Bible. Sometimes people believe that if they give their life to Jesus, they’ll never have problems, but this isn’t true. Jesus Himself told us to expect trouble (John 16:33). The great promise of the Bible is that God will be with us no matter what. This is our hope. This is our comfort. This is our way forward. The Bible doesn’t say if we pass through the waters. It says when we pass through the waters. We will have troubles. But Jesus will always walk through them with us. God reminded the Israelites thousands of years ago and wants to remind us today that He will be with us. Rest in that promise today.
APPLICATION: The most central promise in the Bible is that God will be with us.
PRAYER: Spend time praying and remembering the promise that God is with us. Picture Him walking through every part of your day with you, the good and the bad. Ask Him to make you more aware of His presence each day.