Isaiah 43:1-2

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 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 shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The journey of the darkened soul is portrayed here as passing “through the waters, through the rivers, through the fire, through the flame.”

Can it get much worse than that? The text doesn’t say, “If you pass” but “When you pass.” Who can speak with such confident authority about how things will turn out for the soul that passes through waters, rivers, fire, and flame? Who knows for certain that anybody will make it to the other side? Who has the will to move history and harness nature to save the soul? Those questions also rattled around inside the mind of Gideon, centuries before, as he ventured to have a relationship with the God who called him a “mighty warrior.” Those questions plagued the refugee camps of the Jews as they sat in Babylon or in Assyria or in scattered (diaspora) communities all across the Mediterranean. [BN,8]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am