“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
Isaiah 43:2-3 New International Version (NIV) (emphasis mine)
It takes somebody bigger than we are to promise this kind of protection. It is no wonder God told Moses: "Tell them I Am sent you." (Exodus 3:14). God remains the Great I Am for it was He who spoke the world into existence and we have yet to meet anyone who can make this claim and back it up. God has informed us in His Word who He is and as clearly as it was made evident to those at the time He said it, He has confirmed it by His Word which is still alive and active for us to believe it today. Just the preservation of Scripture, to be exposed to us so many, many years later than when God proclaimed this assurance to the Israelites, should give us the confidence we need to believe that what He said then applies to us now. Everlasting life means He offers us all forever with Him — forever.
We would not encourage our children to even think of passing through rivers or walking through flames of fire because we do not have the power to save them, even with all the love we have for them. Yet our God, who loved us first and who is the Maker of Heaven and earth and all that is within them, is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24) and He is in control. The God of Creation promises to be with us through everything, especially troubled times. We must believe in His power because He is faithful who has promised us this.
He is the Great I Am! This is the truth that will keep us from perishing as we now watch the earth clearly burning up with the heat of evil. Holding too tightly to things on this planet will likely produce two results: We will drown or we will burn. We must let go of our futile grasping of the stuff in this world and hold fast to God's unchanging hand. He is able and carries us through the fire because we are holding on to Him. When we admit to our own limitations and all that we are unable to accomplish on our own, we show our dependence on Him and it becomes easier to trust in the sovereignty of our Creator and His love for us that never fails, even when we do.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29 NIV
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