By Pastor Dave
So many of us think that if we obey the Lord and follow His direction, all will be well. If we obey, we will walk in worldly blessings. We will prosper and our lives will be good and easy. Well, that is not accurate. When we obey what we know God has told us, we are blessed of the Lord. But the Lord’s blessing is quite often not what the world would call a blessing.
Let this passage taken out of Isaiah 43:1-3 (NAS) minister to you.”…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. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel your Savior….“
When we walk the path God has called us to He has promised to walk with us. But look at the path – through the waters, through the fire? I thought life following Jesus would be easy and carefree, no difficulties. Not so. Jesus saves us and redeems us and then He calls us to pick up our cross daily and die to self and follow Him. Look at Luke 8:22-25. Jesus told His disciples that they were going to the other side of the lake. They get in a boat, Jesus falls asleep, a huge storm comes up and the disciples are fearful for their lives. They wake Jesus, He calms the storm, all is well and then He rebukes His disciples. Why did you not believe? Didn’t I say “lets go the the other side?” They were in the will of God and it led them into a storm. They soon forgot what was said in Isaiah, “when you go through the waters, I will be with you, you will not drown.”
Doesn’t that describe us sometimes? We hear from God, we follow His instructions and all hell comes against us and we cry out “where are you, God? I am doing what You told me to do and it is a fight, a battle, a difficulty.” We soon forget that He is with us in the middle of all of this. We may have to struggle, fight, endure, and persevere but He has promised we will not drown and we will not burn. If you are doing His will and it is not going according to how you expected, keep doing His will and know that you will not drown and you will not burn. So, keep the faith in the flood and fire!