Non-Smoking

"Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life." Isaiah 43:1-4

As I was reading this morning God whispered to me. I was reminded of His greatness. Each breath is grace. How is it that I forget it?! Just because I cannot comprehend His greatness doesn't mean I shouldn't try. When I am awed by His power, I am reminded of how sovereign He is. I am reminded it's not up to me (what a relief!).
These verses say WHEN you pass through the waters, WHEN you pass through the rivers, WHEN you walk through the fire. They also say THROUGH, not around. But my favorite part is that even though those things WILL happen, even though we must walk THROUGH them, He is with us, they won't overtake us and we are His. If we didn't have to go through those things, we wouldn't understand how great He truly is. If we didn't have to go through rivers we wouldn't know that He will keep them from sweeping over us. If we didn't have to go through the fire we wouldn't know that He is our sustainer. He tells us not to fear. His reasons are "I have redeemed you," "I have called you specifically by your name," and "you are mine." I am His. He knows me by name. He is completely aware of my circumstances and He is with me. Even when I walk through the fire, they won't set me ablaze. My dad has always said "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had to stand in the fiery furnace. But when they came out, they didn't even smell like smoke!" Dad says that to remind me and others that even when we must go through things either out of what we've put ourselves into, what we must go through in order to be obedient to Christ, or out of circumstance, if we trust Jesus He will be faithful to us just as he was to those young Jewish men. He is the same God now as He was back then. These things will be for your good and for God's glory, for no other god can save in such a way (Daniel 3:29).
Whatever circumstances you're going through, whatever fires, whatever floods know that if your trust is in God you will get wet but you won't be in over your head. You will walk through fire but you won't be singed and you will come out on the other side not even smelling like smoke.