Isaiah 43:1-7  

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  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.  ³ For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.  ⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.  ⁵ Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.  ⁶ I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,  ⁷ everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

Scripture is filled with many different types of purposes.  Some passages tell a story, others teach lessons; there are those that worship and some that admonish.  There are many other categories we can list, but I find comfort in today’s passage.  There are those days when I am overwhelmed.  I am overwhelmed with appointments and meetings, with completing different tasks, trying to get to the gym, grabbing healthy meals along the way… and inevitably I’m tired on these days – which always make everything worse.  Individually each task is no big deal, but when you pile up everything on top of one another, those days I feel like I am drowning.

First of all, this passage promises that God will be with us every step of the way.  We are never alone.  Some days, even when there are tons of people around, we can feel alone.  On those days, we can stand on this scripture and remember that the feeling of loneliness is false because truly, we are never alone.  God is always with us.

The second point of comfort I receive from this passage is that the rivers of life will not overwhelm me and the flames of the fires of life will not consume me.  This passage does not promise that I won’t get wet in the river or struggle to stay afloat (it says – when you pass through, not if!), but we won’t drown.  The passage does say we will walk through fire, but we won’t be burned or consumed.  It will probably get hot and make us sweat, but we don’t have to worry about being consumed.

Be encouraged!  God is always with you as you go throughout your day!!  You are never alone.  And when life seems overwhelming, just remember – God will not allow us to be overwhelmed!!  You will not drown.

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy