A word I share with Israel

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine


Graphic by http://www.heartlight.org

When I was a little girl I was disappointed by a prayer that went unanswered by God. My relationship with Him over the decades to follow was tumultuous. So, when I was thirty, I discovered the God I had instinctively expected in my 12-year old heart. I found the real God, who is not faraway and alienated from us in our troubles. I was seeing the God that actually heals in answer to prayers of faith. I rejoiced to finally be on track of the real God, my real Father in Heaven.

I knew that there must have been a reason that He did not answer my prayer that caused me to become so disillusioned with God when I was just a little girl, so I threw myself into reading the Bible over and over. I read it like my life depended upon knowing it, and in fact, it does.

My favorite book of the Bible became Isaiah, because I could relate with the tumultuous relationship Israel had with God. Every promise I saw from God to Israel, rang in my own heart as also a word for me.

This is one of the verses that leapt off the pages of my Bible in those early days of finally - at long last - beginning to discover who God really is. A God who is faithful to His covenant with us, even when we have been unfaithful for a multitude of reasons. He looks on our weakness, and considers our frame.

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
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.
For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior (yasha - salvation - deliverer)