“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
In December 2020, I decided to resume my practice of memorizing Scripture. One of the first verses that I committed to memory was Isaiah 41:10. I am very glad that I did!! Last year was a very difficult for everyone, intensified by the Covid crisis which resulted is so many lifestyle changes, to the unprecedented presidential election and all the chaos that surrounded it. Everyone was looking forward to the new year of 2021 thinking that somehow miraculously things would automatically get better when the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve. However, that wasn’t the case! Things seemed to escalate with the death toll that continues to climb, complications of providing the vaccine, a new mutated virus, and the growing number of suicide and abuse cases growing due to the isolation dictated by the virus.
As a friend of mine once said, “Life gets lifey!” Life is difficult at times for everyone. The Bible records the Lord Jesus saying that God causes the sun to shine upon the just and the unjust, and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. The Christian and non-Christian alike encounter difficult and trying times in this life. So you may question, “Why become a Christian?” Because a Christian is a member of the family of God and God becomes you Father and He will help you.
God, our Father, makes this promise to all His children, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). When Scriptures like this are engraved upon our hearts and embedded within our minds, then when difficult times arrive we can use them to call upon our heavenly Farther for help in our time of need.
We need not fear the unknown future, because our all knowing God is all ready there and in control. When we are weak and struggling, our almighty heavenly Father knows exactly how to help us. The devil may have established a stronghold of sin in your life that you can’t seem to overcome, but our God can and will help. Many times this help comes to us through other Christians, such as, counselors, therapists, accountability partners, and friends to talk to and pray with.
The last statement of Isaiah 41:10 is especially comforting. God says, “I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” We, Christians, are a poor and needy people, unable to do anything apart from the help of the Lord Jesus! It is very encouraging to know that the strong arm and hand of the Lord is holding me up and will lift me up when I stumble and fall. The wise writer of Proverbs offers this assurance, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity” (24:16).
The Lord Jesus never promised to rid us of all life’s problems, but He did promise to go through them with us. Regardless of what you may be going through, know this, that if you are a child of God, He is very aware of your situation. Call upon Him! Trust Him! Trust His Word, His promise, to give you strength and help! He will sustain you through all difficult times!
Some thoughts to ponder,
Learning to serve,
Robert D. Finley, Ph.D.
February 2021