Into each life some rain must fall,
said Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. But sometimes it’s not just a brief shower.
It’s a downpour, a torrent, a gully-washer, a deluge. Life sometimes brings a
monster storm with driving rain, gale-force winds, deadly flooding and
scorching flames.
That’s
where Isaiah 43:1-3 comes in. Three promises from this beloved passage have often
kept my wife and me going through the flood and the fire. I’ve already
mentioned two. First, we belong to Him. And then second: there is no wasted pain.
Here’s
the third: God promises His presence and
His protection. And the best is yet to come. Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by
name, you are mine. 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. For I am the LORD
your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior (Isaiah 43:1-3a).
But what about believers through the centuries who have met
their death by drowning? And what about Christian martyrs who were burned to
death at the stake? Some were tortured, refusing to accept
release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword (Hebrews 11:36b-37a).
So how can the promise that “the rivers…shall not overwhelm”
and that when you walk through fire “you shall not be burned” – how can this be true?
I think this promise contains a truth within a truth. On one
level of course God has delivered, and will continue to deliver, His people
from the flood and the fire. Nothing can touch you, not disease, not
terrorists, not traffic accidents or any other tragedy, apart from the Lord’s
permission.
But there is another flood that sweeps souls away into a
terrible abyss. There is another fire that is eternal, a flame that burns
forever, an inferno hotter than anything anyone has ever experienced on this
earth. And God does forever and always protect His people from this flood and
this fire.
Our society says that all we have is this life,
so we have to hold on to it at all costs. Our greatest hope is just to survive
the flood and the fire as long as we can. But that’s such a lie! We are eternal
beings, and we live forever in heaven or hell. So our greatest deliverance is from that eternal flood and fire, and unto the place Christ has prepared for
us.
Yes, count on God’s presence when you wade through deep
water or when the wildfires crackle around you. If Jesus is with you, you can
go through anything.
But also count on this: the best is yet to come. This life
is like a baby in the womb, warm and content, afraid of what comes next. This
life is just the cloak room where you put on your jacket before you go out for recess. This life is just the elevator that brings you to the top floor where
the party is. This life is like standing on the front step of Grandma’s house
on Thanksgiving morning. And you can smell the feast and hear the sound of
beloved voices, and soon you get to walk through that door, into the warmth and
blessing of your family!
We don’t fear the flood or the fire because our Christ is
with us, and the best is yet to come. His presence and protection is on both
sides of the door.
