Come hell or high water (Isaiah 43:2)
Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash
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.
–Book of Isaiah 43:2
Thanks to Heather for sending this verse to me the other day.
Three things stand out here.
First, water and fire are not a matter of if, but when.
“When” you pass through waters and rivers.
“When” you walk through fire.
Go far enough in this life and you will have to ford dangerous floods and tread water that is over your head. Go long enough in this world and you will go through hell.
Second, God promises God’s people that the water will not drown them and the fire will not consume them. This is not a promise that individuals will not drown or burn. One of the best Christian men I ever knew drowned a month after we graduated from Christian college.
It is, rather, a promise that the people of God and, thus, what God intends to accomplish with that people will come to pass. The kingdom of God will come and God’s will will be done on earth as in heaven.
So, though we as individuals may suffer and die, we may also be certain that resurrection is coming.
Neither flood nor fire will overwhelm or consume the resurrection kingdom.
Third, in the flood God promises to be with God’s people (v. 2).
That is not a promise to watch from a distance when we struggle to keep our heads above water; God promises to be in the water with us! When we’re shivering and wet, God promises to be shivering and wet, too.
The story of Jesus is proof. In Jesus, God suffers the worst that human beings can suffer. In Jesus, God joins in solidarity with human misery.
Go far and long enough and we will go through hell and high water.
The promise of Isaiah 42:3, however, is that when we’re wet, God is wet with us. And when we burn, God burns with us. In the end, God will bring us through together into the realm of God’s resurrection. Jesus is the sign.
Grace and peace.