Now this is what the LORD says— the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you, Israel— “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and ⌊when you pass⌋ through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you. For I Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior, give Egypt as a ransom for you, Cush and Seba in your place. Because you are precious in My sight and honored, and I love you, I will give people in exchange for you and nations instead of your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north: Give ⌊them⌋ up! and to the south: Do not hold ⌊them⌋ back! Bring My sons from far away, and My daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone called by My name and created for My glory. I have formed him; indeed, I have made him.” (Isaiah 43:1-7 HCSB)
This passage of scripture catches my attention. Fully. Completely. Precious words of hope and encouragement. God speaks through His prophet to declare restoration for the people He has chosen as His own special people. It was Paul who would later write:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10 HCSB)
That speaks…this speaks of restoration. A simple word. We watch televisions shows such as “This Old House,” “Beachfront Bargain Hunt: Renovation,” “Property Brothers,” “Music City Fix,” “Love It or List It,” “Flip or Flop,” and “Fixer Upper.” Just a few of those shows show us the trials and trails of taking something old and creating something new.
Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him— a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, He will not execute justice by what He hears with His ears, but He will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with discipline from His mouth, and He will kill the wicked with a command from His lips. Righteousness will be a belt around His loins; faithfulness will be a belt around His waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. None will harm or destroy ⌊another⌋ on My entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is filled with water. (Isaiah 11:1-9 HCSB)
What a beautiful picture of restoration.
Restoration… it is the “the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition.” We find the same word used in various synonyms: “repair, repairing, mending, refurbish, reconditioning, rebuilding, makeover, overhaul.”
Restoration is not an easy task. It takes longer than 30 minutes or an hour (as we seem to see in the shows on television). There are things which have to be done, adjustments made, struggles to deal with, and old things to overcome. With time these things take shape and form into beauty.
But, my oh my, what a wonderful thing it will be in the end, because He says, “I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5) In that time there will be no sorrow, no pain, no sickness, no death…what a grand day that will be. Yet, in the process now, as He restores, let us remember…
DO NOT FEAR…
“Now this is what the Lord says — the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel — “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine.”
See that? The Lord says He knows their name. With God we are not a number. Go to the bank, call your credit card company…with these and so many others you are a number. That’s how they know you. But, God! He knows your name. As a believer your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. As a believer you are an individual who is loved by God with a unique and special DNA. You are His and He is Your God.
In the text, He goes on to say, “I will be with you.” That is a promise and you are in Good, Godly, Holy Hands. You are in the hands of God. He will never leave you or forsake you. He will walk with you through the “valley of the shadow of death. (Psalm 23:4) He will traverse the mountain ranges with you. Never, no, never alone, are you as a believer!
That promise is so real, as you see He says:
“… when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you.”
I am reminded of children of Israel on their journey into the wilderness crossing over on dry land, as they passed through the Red Sea-the waters-and when they entered the Promised Land, they again passed over the Jordan on dry ground-the rivers. Then, I come to this part of the scripture which says, “You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire” and this reminds me of the three Hebrew Children being cast into the flaming furnace and were not burned; their clothes had no smell of smoke on them and the hair on their head was not even singed…additionally there was a fourth man in the fire and He would not leave them or forsake them. Have I hit the cord in your heart yet? No matter what assails you as a believer, you will not be overwhelmed, nor swept away, nor consumed because He is with you. Stand strong, stand firm and trust God!
Then we see a reminder of what God said to Moses, “I AM.” He is the I AM! The Holy One of Israel! The Savior! The Mighty One! The beginning and the end! Yes, that is my God! My Jesus!
And there is to be NO FEAR in my life. No fear in your life. This is the second time it is stressed and in Joshua chapter 1, we find the leader of the people being instructed by God to not fear. Fear cripples, paralyzes, brings heartaches and causes us to tremble. We are not to fear; we are to trust! Because we are precious in His sight, we are honored, we are loved!
Let us stress the truth of this scripture in our lives today:
-
WE WERE CREATED
-
WE WERE FORMED
-
WE DO NOT FEAR
-
WE ARE IN HIS HANDS
Because…
HE HAS GOT THIS… You fill in the blank. What is it that is assaulting you, causing you sleepless nights and difficult days? God has it in His hands; He is still on the Throne!
HE IS IN CONTROL
These verses are for someone today. Someone who needs to be reminded that God is a PERSONAL God.
He has REDEEMED you with the precious blood of His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ. You are His child, by adoption and He knows your NAME.
You my friend are PROTECTED! He surrounds you; He hems you in. You cannot go to the left or the right, without Him holding you by His mighty right hand. He will give you protection to pass through the waters which attempt to overwhelm you. He will protect when the rivers try to sweep you away. When the flame is wanting to consume you, it will not burn you, and not even leave it’s smells on your skin or even singe your hairs.
You will PASS THROUGH this thing which consumes your thoughts and brings fear to your life. He does not desire for you to live in the valley; He does not desire you to be swamped in the mire and much; He does not leave you in the snare of the enemy’s traps. No, we pass through! He brings us through.
Because He gives you PROVISION
WE HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP AND ARE PROTECTED, because there is PROVISION
Look closely at this word. PROVISION…
It means, “the act or process of providing; the fact or state of being prepared.” Make sure you underline the words in your mind and hide them in your heart. Provision; providing, prepared…
We are His by adoption. He is our God. We have a place at His table, not by works of righteousness but by the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 reads:
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through ⌊His⌋ kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4-10 HCSB)
With this in mind, we are precious. You are precious! Peter said, “chosen,” “peculiar.” We are treasure; God’s valuable possession. Malachi writes:
Then … a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord , and … they shall be mine, … in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
(Malachi 3:16-17 KJV)
When a king wished to show off his treasures, demonstrating his riches to visiting dignitaries he would have his treasure trove bought in by the servants. They would place the large, ornate box in front of him. This chest would be opened and inside the contents revealed would bring amazement to the eyes of all watching. The chest would be filled with diamonds, silver, precious jewels, and gold. The best of the best the king owned would be in that chest of riches. He would reach in and run his hands through the treasure as he revealed how rich he was.
God does the same. We are His Jewels. We are valuable to Him. Precious in His sight.
WE ARE HIS TROPHIES OF GRACE…