“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” (Isa. 43:2).
In Michael Rosen’s classic children’s book, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, a family goes on an adventure, crossing a river, a muddy marsh, and a dark forest. With each obstacle they face, they say the same refrain:
We can’t go under it!
Oh no! We’ve got to go through it!”
The word “through” is a preposition for trial. We talk about the troubles we’re “going through” and the difficulties others “put us through.” We can’t go under or around our trials; we’ve got to go through them. No wonder the Lord says we must go “through” the obstacles we face. We’ll pass “through the waters,” “through the rivers,” and “walk through the fire” (Isa. 43:2).
Isaiah teaches that:
- It’s coming.
- It won’t consume you.
- And you won’t be alone.
- But it will change you.
It’s Coming
The Lord says, “when you pass through the waters” and “when you walk through the fire” (Isa. 43:2). Not IF, but WHEN. The rest of Scripture speaks of hardships in the same way. Don’t “be surprised at the fiery trial WHEN it comes upon you” (1 Pet. 4:12). Rather, “count it all joy … WHEN you meet trials” (Jam. 1:2). And “*Blessed are you WHEN others revile you” for Jesus’ sake (Matt. 5:11).
You might be in the fire of trial right now. Or maybe you just passed through it, and you’re in a season of peace for the moment. But even then, it’s coming around again soon. It shouldn’t shock us or make us think the Lord has left our side. As a friend likes to say, this is a testing place, not a resting place. Stay ready and “continue in the faith” knowing “that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
It Won’t Consume You
Have you ever considered your life amid trial and thought, “I don’t know if I can survive this one.” Some mountains look too tall to traverse. Some pain seems unbearable. But the Lord promises his people: “*When you pass through the waters … they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isa. 43:2). You can’t avoid the fire or the flood, but our God will ensure safe passage. He will provide the barrier for the fire and the raft for the flood. Remember that God’s Word has declared you will reach the other side of this.
You Won’t Be Alone
Wherever you are right now — amid great trials or gearing up for the next battle — remember God’s promise to those who belong to him. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isa. 43:2).
Four times in Genesis 39, we read that “the Lord was with Joseph” (Gen. 39:2,3,21,23). His brothers sold him into slavery at Potiphar’s house. But when he became enslaved, “the Lord was with Joseph” (Gen. 39:2). And when he went to prison, “the Lord was with him” (Gen. 39:23). It probably didn’t feel like he escaped the fire. He had to go through it. But in the end, it didn’t consume him, and Joseph realized that “God meant it for good” to bless the world (Gen. 50:20).
Cling to these five words as you cling to him: “I will be with you” (Isa. 43:2).
In our trials, we may ask, “Is the Lord with me?” But God is not fickle. He does not leave us. The most critical question you can ask yourself when you go through trials is: Am I with the Lord? It’s tough to protect a disobedient child. If you tell your child, “Don’t run into the street, stay by my side, I’ll keep you safe,” you desperately hope the child makes it easy for you to protect them. When God leads you through the wilderness with a pillar of fire, you can’t choose to wander away and then ask why God has left you in the darkness.
But don’t let your difficulties in life bring doubts about God’s abiding, gracious presence. Cling to these five words as you cling to him: “I will be with you” (Isa. 43:2). He assures us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).
It Will Change You
A few chapters later in Isaiah, the Lord reveals another critical truth about our trials: “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction” (Isa. 48:10). It’s a theme that goes back to Isaiah 1, where God said he would “smelt away” their dross and “remove all your alloy” (Isa. 1:25). The Lord can use our trials to make us better, stronger, and more reliant on him. The New Testament picks up and expands this theme.
- “You rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire” (1 Pet. 1:6-7).
- “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance … character … and hope*” (Rom. 5:3-4).
- “Count it all joy when you meet trials…the testing of your faith produces steadfastness … that you may be … complete” (Jam. 1:2-4).
For those who love the Lord, testing is training, developing us into the people we need to become. Though Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was a “messenger of Satan” (12:7), God used it to perfect Paul through his weakness. Satan meant it for evil, but God wouldn’t remove it because he saw the good that would come from it.
“‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9).
The Lord will lead you through it all because of who you are to him. Just like Israel of old, you are his. Let’s close with a verse right before our text and one right after it as a reminder of what we mean to him: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine … Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you” (Isa. 43:1,4).