August 4, 2020
Isaiah 43:2- When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee;
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:
when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned;
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
I thank and praise God for this, the first post of my Blog, along with the launch of this website for Healing Restorations Ministries, Mind, Body, and Soul. I wondered what I would write and asked the Holy Spirit to guide me for this and every subsequent entry. I didn't have to do anymore than that because my answer was already waiting. An avid journaler for over 14 years as part of my daily devotion, unbeknownst to me until setting out to write this post, I had written part of the post for today 4 years ago, almost to the day. That's just how God works-He has perfect timing and a divinely woven plan for every single event, circumstance, and situation in your life.
The picture that is associated with this post was taken last year in Lake Tahoe, CA upon a solo spiritual retreat after a couple of very stressful years with court cases related to my divorce. As I stood on my balcony, I looked out in complete marvel of God’s majestic handiwork. The glorious light of the evening sun shined brighter than bright and glistened effortlessly on the peaceful crystal, blue water with a path that led right to my very soul. I could see readily in that moment how the Lord Jesus Christ is the Light that illuminates the world, and the heart, mind, body, and soul of man. I knew that the water was so peaceful and calm because when the Lord says “Peace be still”, even the waters obey. I could feel the peace of God flowing through me as I looked out on the tranquil, sunlit water and I am so thankful to God that I was able to capture the moment for a time such as this.
I felt led of the Holy Spirit to post the displayed image as I was putting together this blog post. But that’s all I had, I didn’t know what to post along with it. I prayed for an answer and one came as I was reading my past devotional entries on this day, as I always do prior to writing the new entry. It’s so humbling, powerful, and amazing to look at all God has done for me over the years- every call heard, every prayer answered. And just like all the other times, God did it again for this post. The journal entry on this day 4 years ago was written a little over a month after I had left Egypt for the Promised Land- Egypt being an abusive marriage and the Promised Land being the new place in my life that God was leading me. That journal entry also had a theme surrounding water. Just as God took the children of Israel through the Red Sea, God also carried me through the sea of abuse, pain, anguish, grief, betrayal, lies, deceit, disrespect, rape by deception, and so many more transgressions perpetrated against me by the man whom I had married over 25 years earlier.
As I sat writing my journal entry on this day in 2016, a then recent picture came to mind of my grandson swimming with the dolphins. He was holding on to the dolphin’s tail as the dolphin was taking him through the water. An excerpt from that journal entry is as follows: I could hear the Lord saying to me “Hold on to my trust, hold on to my Love, hold on to faith in Me. Just as (he) was holding on to the dolphin’s tail as the dolphin was taking him through the waters, hold on to Me as I lead you and take you to places you CANT even dream of or imagine. Just sit back and trust Me, serve Me with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, and watch Me do an even greater thing in you far beyond what you could ever, ever dream of or imagine. Your reaping day is coming and soon. I had to take you through some things to prepare you for what I have in store for you, but trust Me, you will see it was well worth it, worth every tear that was shed, worth every scar that you have, worth every river you cried, worth every pain that you felt. Just trust Me my child and you will see”.
That was it! I could see the dots connected for this blog post! I could see how that image of my grandson swimming with the dolphins in 2016 related to the picture that the Holy Spirit led me to display for this post. I could see God’s divine handiwork in the journal entry over 4 years ago, to the journal entry last year to the date, to the launch of this post. All of it was akin to God taking me through the waters! God took me through my sea of woes so that I could be a testimony to His miraculous healing and strengthening power and be a bridge for someone else as they are going through woes of their own. I have learned along this journey of new beginnings how God has ordained my pain to become my purpose, my tests to become my testimonies, and my mess to become my messages. And here I am, bringing this message of hope, all to the glory of God.
As God’s word will not return unto Him void, but it will accomplish that which He pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto He sent it (Isaiah 55:11), God’s words to me on this day in 2016, have been fulfilled over and over and over again. There were times that I felt like all I could do was keep my head above water and yet there were times when I felt like the waters were trying to close in on me. But, I stood firm on God’s word in Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
First, I realized the importance of God saying when thou passest through the waters- passest through. Some people, no matter their method of traveling, do not successfully pass through the waters to their intended destination. Countless numbers of stories have been told about boats that have been passing through the waters and capsized, and every one on board was killed, or people who were passing through the waters, swimming, and were swept away by a mammoth sized wave, never to be seen again, or found deceased after having drowned. But God says I will be with thee and in Isaiah 43:3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour…
Therefore, since God is the Almighty Captain navigating you through the waters, you WILL reach your destination no matter the situation. Even though you may think that the waters are too much for you, you’re not going to drown. Why? Because God is with you, and He said that the rivers, the waters will not overflow you, meaning they will not cover you. You will not drown. And the same way that God is with you when you pass through the waters is the same way that He will be with you when you go through the fire, just as He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. No matter what challenges you face, God is there with you to carry you through.
Whatever waters you might be passing through in your life, whatever fire you might be walking through, whatever flame that might be trying to kindle in your life, if you have committed your life to the Lord, you don’t have to worry because as a child of God, you can stand on all of God’s promises and know that He will never forsake the righteous. Psalms 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. This scripture, along with the entire passage of Psalms 34 helped me to keep my faith that God would do just what He said, and be with me through all of my trials and tribulations. No matter if the waters you are passing through are raging, overflowing, deep, or muddy, you can rest assure that God will be with you and you will reach your God-driven destination.
Prayer:
Dear Father God,
Thank You for this opportunity to praise You, give You glory and honor, and to lift up Your Holy name. Thank You Lord God for Your words of comfort and peace and all of Your promises that have helped me to get through the darkest, roughest moments in my life. Thank You Lord for the promise that You have given me that You will be with me when I pass through the waters. No matter what waters I am now in, that I may face this week, or in the future, I stand firm on Your word Lord, that I can have peace knowing that I am not alone. You are with me and You command the waters to obey You Lord. No matter what challenges I have now or what challenges I may face, I don’t have to worry about drowning in my troubles because You are with me. Help me Lord to face every challenge with this assurance in mind. And as You bring me through the waters and the fire Lord, may I use the experience to grow closer to You, grow deeper in loving You, and serve You by serving others.
These things I ask in Your Son Jesus’ most precious name,
Amen