Lesson 210 - WHEN FIERY TRIALS COME YOUR WAY (God's Plans and Promised for You from the Book of Isaiah)

By Frank Eiklor and the Shalom Team

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." Isaiah 43:2

Ever since it was dictated by the Holy Spirit to Isaiah, this scripture has carried innumerable saints through every conceivable trial imaginable. In its context, this promise was made— and has been kept—to Israel. No people have been tested for so long as have the Jews. Time and again it has looked like they were finished, only to have God deliver them out of the fires of genocide and the Holocaust and from the waters of evil dictators of surrounding nations that even today seek to drown them.

The children of Israel knew these words were not merely to be taken as symbolic rhetoric that they would experience only in heaven. They had crossed a literal Red Sea and River Jordan where they saw God's deliverance and their enemies met God's doom. And the three uncompromising Hebrew young men saw literal flames seek to envelope them but emerged unscathed and unsinged.

So shall it be with you and me, dear friend. Notice that our scripture does not say "If" we go through deep and fiery trials but "When" we go through them. Tough times are guaranteed to those who walk the path of God. But unlike the man and woman who say "No" to the Savior and must suffer their own difficult trials alone, we have the constant companionship of the Lord and His guarantee that "I will be with thee."

Look back and see what your Heavenly Father has already brought you through. Then face each of your "todays" knowing that your deepest waters and most intense flames will not be allowed to drown or consume you but only to strengthen, purify and confirm your total reliance on God.

My prayer: "Thank You, Lord, for all the deep and fiery trials You have already brought me through. Teach me to trust Your precious promise that You will be with me each day, all the way, come what may."

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
The ST. PAUL SCHOOL, with Frank Eiklor, Eileen Young and Cecilia Contreras

Related Articles · More Articles

Lesson 260 - THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST: SIGNS OF THE TIMES (PART 4)

Jesus said many would come in His name and deceive the hearts of the simple, sinful and proud. Eastern mysticism and meditation is a big thing in the gullible West. And one day a “world leader” will appear on the scene with the persuasion of a god and the heart of a devil. Jesus warns His children to know the Scriptures, live in obedience to the Father’s will, and stay alert to the signs of the times.

Lesson 259 - THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST: SIGNS OF THE TIMES (PART 3)

They laugh no more. Now God’s description of how He will destroy the old earth and create a new one makes perfect sense. The splitting of the atom turned many skeptics into believers. After all, look what man himself is capable of doing with the atom and hydrogen bombs. Now the fear is that nuclear weapons are being placed in the hands of madmen who wish to annihilate their enemies.

Lesson 258 - THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST: SIGNS OF THE TIMES (PART 2)

God has blessed man with incredible genius. We stand in awe as we watch men and women in a room full of computers and high-tech instruments guiding and landing spacecraft on distant planets. At that moment, we appear invincible. But then a mammoth tornado comes—or a terrifying hurricane—or rains that flood whole regions and never listen to our shouts to “Stop!”—or the shake that removes from under our feet any confidence or pride we carry, and leaves us numb with hardly enough breath to even utter the paralyzing word “EARTHQUAKE!”. And man is helpless in the face of it all!

Back To Archives