Where is God When You Walk through the Storm?

Daily Devotional – Thursday, October 28, 2021

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.

Isaiah 43:2 (NKJV)

In my journey of faith, I have lost count of the times I felt or thought God had left me in my time of need. I also know people who stopped believing in God because they assumed He had abandoned them when they needed Him most.

Let us admit that going through a rough patch often raises trust issues with God. Why do I have to go through trouble when my God is all-powerful? Should I lack when God owns everything? Does God really care about me?

Through the Prophet Isaiah, God gives us a powerful promise and an important perspective on the challenges He allows into our lives. Isaiah wrote to the people of God at a time when the kingdom of Assyria was growing in might and was threatening Judah.

To a people in fear, God sent this message:

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.” (Isaiah 43:2).

There are two issues worth noting in this verse:

1. God’s people would pass through difficult times, symbolized by the terms ‘waters’, ‘rivers’, ‘fire’, and ‘flame’. The sinful world we live in is hostile to genuine believers. We will experience pain and suffering for being different and righteous.
2. God will be with us in our tribulations. He will not just help us through our difficulties. The flood will come, but it will not drown us. Fire will burn around us, but it will not consume us.

Do you remember Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego? Did God stop Nebuchadnezzar from throwing them into the fiery furnace? Yet, when the king looked into the furnace, he said, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:25).

When we go through the fires of life, we grow in faith as we see God intervening in our lives. When we float and triumph over floods, God receives the glory only He deserves. Trials and tribulations are God’s training school for His foot soldiers.

If there were nothing to learn and nothing to benefit from in your trials, God would not allow you to go through them. Praise be to the God who walks with us through the storm!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You because You will never abandon me in my troubles.