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” (Isaiah 43:2).
“Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” Thus this comforting section begins with a remembrance of the cost, the price that He had paid for them; the call, for they had been chosen and called; and the composure, for they were told to “Fear not.” Was this sufficient comfort? Wait, for there is more. There is Divine companionship in the trial: “I will be with thee.”
There is never a trial in which He will leave us alone. There is never a circumstance which He does not feel with His own.
Can we not then thank God for the waters because in them are learned lessons that could not have been learned anywhere else? Because Paul was promised that “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” He therefore said, “I will glory in infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor 12:8-9).
