A Promise Fulfilled

"But thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel,
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called you by name, thou art mine. When thou
passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee."


At the age of 17, while going thru a difficult time in school, with friends and life in general,
God gave me this passage through my mother that has been my life-line. Ever since then, God has used this portion of scripture to encourage and bring life to me during difficult times.Recently, I was speaking with a friend and we were discussing this passage and it was such an exciting
experience and revelation we had, I have decided to share it.


So, what does it all mean? when we walk through the waters? and the flood? and the fire?


"...when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee"


In Exodus 14, we read the account of Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea. God said to Moses, that He was going to fight for them. God Himself was there when they went thru the Red Sea, when they passed thru the waters. The God of the universe came down in a moment of need and did not allow the waters of the Red Sea to drown His people. "The Lord Himself shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." Exo. 14:14
A promise fulfilled!


"...and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you"


Another instance we can read in Joshua 3 of the Israelites crossing over the Jordan River. The priests were told to go ahead of the people and enter first. Now, imagine with me for just a moment and see the priests, who were carrying the Ark, they were to step into the river first. Another thing to notice is that the Jordan was overflowing its banks, that means that there was so much more water around plus the currents were a lot stronger at that point. But still God wanted them to move first, then He would perform the miracle. God was calling them to believe, to have faith that would move the situation they were facing. The Bible states, "And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap." In Isaiah's words, the waters were not going to overwhelm them. The Jordan at the point where they were crossing was deep enough to have them all drown but it never happened, because God was with them. A promise fulfilled!


"...when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burn, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."


Daniel 3 tells us the story of the three Hebrew boys who defied their king by not bowing down as the law commanded. These boys had a decision to make, they either bowed or burned. They decided to obey the God who had their lives in His hand instead, they knew the difficulty of their situation and they were prepared to suffer whatever consequence. My favorite verse in this chapter is, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." What a way to trust God, whether he answered their prayer or not. They were going to trust in God and obey Him no matter what the outcome was. And He did it, God blessed their audacity and faith! They did not burn, in fact they did not even smell like fire. A promise fulfilled!


What about me? Am I going to trust him when He says clearly:


I will be in Your situation myself and not allow it to drawn you, overwhelm you, stress you. You will hold Your peace and I will move.


or maybe He is asking me to go ahead first, to move in faith and He will move, like the priests and Joshua.


Or like the three Hebrew boys, I can be confident that whatever the outcome is I will not be moved and trust Him. Because of this faith in God, He moves! He stops the fire, but allows the king to see that there is no other God like Him. My circumnstance and situation will have to bow to the One True God, the One who holds my world in His hands.