No Way Out but Through

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you will not be burned, and the flame will not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2).

We might wish that Isaiah had said, “You will never pass through floods or walk through fire,” but God has not promised to keep his children out of trouble. No, “we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22)

I’m not wise enough to know the reasons for the present crisis, but if it is the judgment of God on the earth his children will of necessity suffer along with the world—in which case, there’s no way out of our trouble but through.

Nevertheless our Lord is with us when we walk through the fire and pass through the flood, lending his strength to our weakness, giving us peace in our unrest. The flood will not overwhelm us; we will not be consumed. We can pass through this crisis not somehow but triumphantly. We are “more than conquerors through him who loves us” (Romans 9:37).

Oh, we may be swept up in the virus and die, but, I remind us once again, not one of us will lose a single hair from his or her head! (Luke 21:18).

David Roper

3.24.20