Through Fire And Water

Isaiah 43:1-3, 10-12

“Hey you!”  Sometimes that’s how we are called when the other person doesn’t know our name.  We might not think that’s a big deal if it’s a stranger calling us, but if it is someone who really should know our name, like our teacher, boss, or neighbor, that’s another matter.  Names are important.  We can feel rather insignificant when someone who should know our name doesn’t even bother to know or use it.  How about God?  In this week’s Old Testament reading from the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer we will learn whether God knows and cares enough about each one of us.

There are many of us who go through life feeling very insignificant and unloved or cared about.  We are just a “Hey you!”  Or we are known by some nick-name that is really a put-down, like “Skinny”, “Fatty”, or “Freckles” because others couldn’t be bothered to learn our real name.  As the Prophet Isaiah opens our Scripture passage today, he lets us know that Yahweh, our Creator God, knows each and every one of us by our name (vs. 1).  Today in 2020 there are approximately 8 billion people on earth, yet God knows each of us individually.  He knows and loves us enough that He calls us by our individual name.  We are not just that anonymous person at work or school, or in the neighborhood.  We are not just a Social Security number to God.  We are a special person to Him, with a name He knows and calls.

As Isaiah continues on in this passage, God not only knows our name, but He loves and cares enough about us that He also protects us throughout all of life’s trials and dangers (vs. 2).  God protects us in times of trouble.  We are important to Him.  Isaiah names two specific types of danger here that a person might go through in life, water and fire, but any type of danger would apply.  We all face raging waters and fires of adversity in life.  God promises that He will be with us as we go through these trials.  They will not overcome us if we trust Him.  No matter how deep the water we wade in, or how raging the river that comes against us in life, we will not be overwhelmed.  Jesus is with us.  His love for us is stronger than anything (Zephaniah 3:17).

Going through deep water or through fire all alone will harm or possibly kill us.  When we go through those, whether literally or figuratively, we should never do that in our own strength.  Take hold of Jesus’ hand, and have Him carry you through.  Fear tells us that God will not come through, and that we will be defeated.  We must never listen to fear!  Jesus tells us to not be afraid.  He will walk with us through any trial.  He cares for the tiniest of sparrows, and we are more valuable in His sight than they are (Matthew 10:31).  Just as Jesus was sovereignly in control over the storms on the Sea of Galilee, so He is over the storms and trials in our life.

The Bible says here in this passage “when”, not “if”.  Trials will come.  However, we can trust that God will be with us through them all.  He promises to bring us safely to the other side.  Why does He promise us that?  Why does He care about us individually, care about us enough to call us by our name?  As verse 3 tells us, it is because God loves us enough that He came to save us, He is our Savior.  We are His (vs. 1), as He bought us with His Blood, shed on Calvary.

Since we are God’s children, bought through the price of the life of His Son Jesus Christ, we have the responsibility to tell the world who God is, and all that He has done for us (vs. 10-11).  He has told us to be His witnesses, telling them that there is no other Savior except Jesus.  The false religions of the world have never had a god who loved the people who falsely worshipped them.  Their false religions never claim that their god knows them individually, nor protected and cared for them like Jesus does.  No matter what we go through, we can be confident that Jesus has not abandoned us, and never will!