Unknown Territory

“I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your savior.” Isaiah 43: 2-3 (NIV)

“When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end-Because I am God, your personal God, the Holy of Israel, your Savior.” (MSG)

On a recent family trip to the zoo, my family and I decided to ride the train that went around the zoo, as my son is both an animal and train fanatic. I sat with my daughter and for the most part, she is pretty fearless. During the ride she enjoyed the sites and waved at on-lookers. Yet, any time we went through a tunnel, she immediately became fearful and climbed in my lap holding on to me tightly. As soon as we cleared the tunnel, she went back to her side of the seat and enjoyed the ride.

That got me thinking, how in life when things are good we can handle the day to day things, but the minute things get dark, unclear, unknown, we get fearful and for some of us…we need protection. In our focus verse, God is reminding us that even in the midst of the most turbulent times, He is right here with us. Protecting and keeping us from hurt, harm, and danger. His promise to us is that even in the midst of chaos and fear, we can depend solely on Him to keep us safe. I feel the most safe with my dad. He is someone that I can depend on no matter what, and I know that he will protect me with his life. I feel the exact same way about God. No matter what, I know that He has my best interest at heart and protecting me is top of the list.

Trusting God should not be hard, yet we have to know that in the midst of life, we can lean and trust that He’s got us.

#AshleySpeak