Adapted from Always True by James McDonald
But now, thus says
the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not
fear, 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 will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will
not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. Isaiah 43:1-2
This week we started a series of
devotions based on God’s promises that He has made to us throughout the
Bible.
The first promise is God is With Me (I Will Not Fear)
The second promise is God is Always in Control (I Will Not Doubt)
The third promise God is: God is Always Good (I Will Not Despair)
The fourth promise is: God is Always Watching ( I Will Not Falter)
Simply put, faltering in your
Christian walk means that you have moved away from God and you are not walking
in faith. This may happen when you are
overwhelmed by a big problem that is not going to resolve quickly, maybe even
for weeks. Faltering is just a stumble, not a full blown crash. It happens temporarily but you don’t want it
to be a permanent pattern. We falter
when we take our eyes off God and His promises.
He promises that if we are walking in His strength by faith and clinging
to His promises, we are not going to falter.
…through the waters, through the fire…
God brings us into these difficult
seasons of our lives but we make it through and we come out on the other side. Too
many times we are looking for a way out or around the difficult times. Going through the fire brings about God’s
presence in a deeper way and is always better that finding a way to get around
it. In the trials or in the storms, as
the verse above says, in the high waters and in the fire, that is where we will
find Him. He will be there with us and
He will reveal Himself in an incredible way.
You may not see it at the time.
It may be obvious later when you look back.
God is Watching
Us
God sees you and
every little detail of your life. He
hears every conversation, sees your checkbook, He knows your unspoken
fears. He is watching the depth of the
water and the heat of the fire. He is
watching you and at some point in your trial, He will say enough! You don’t need to falter.
Some people think God is like a hawk,
circling around above us just waiting for us to make a mistake and then
swooping down on us to grab us and punish us.
But God’s not like that. He
doesn’t want us to fail but longs for us to succeed. If He does swoop down it will be to rescue
not to harm. Neither is God like our
worst critic whose approval you will never earn. He has accepted us in his Son and receives us
just as we are. God is watching our
every step and hearing our every thought for only one reason…to be our
protector, provider, counselor and guide.
Scripture to
Claim:
Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of
Your wings… Psalms 17:8
