Isaiah 41:10 & 13

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.”

Isaiah 41:13 “For I the Lord your God hold your right hand; I am the Lord, Who says to you, Fear not; I will help you!” (Here’s an interesting note. The Hebrew language didn’t have punctuation, so if they wanted to emphasis something, they said it twice.)

This is a foundational Truth from the Word of God that is carried throughout the scriptures-the tender Watch care of our Heavenly Father. It’s a personal love note which He has sent to His beloved children to comfort us in all situations. No matter the situation, our Lord is watching over us and taking care of us as a loving Parent takes care of His small children.

With that thought in mind, I’d like to share just a couple incidents in which we were sure of God’s faithful Hand-protecting & providing for us His beloved children. When our twins were just infants, we were traveling by car to visit my husband’s parents in Missouri, on a holiday weekend. The highway was jampacked with cars zipping in and out of traffic at high speeds. We seemed to be traveling with about eight other cars. At that time, there was no such thing as car seats, so we set up a playpen area in the back seat for the twins to play with toys and nap while we traveled. At suppertime, we pulled off the road to get a quick bite and feed and change the babies. When we got back on the road, within a few miles, we saw those same cars that we had been traveling with in a huge 8 car pile-up, with ambulances, fire-trucks, and police. If we hadn’t pulled off the road, I’m sure we would have been injured or killed in that huge accident. I’m sure that each of us could recount many, many times that the Lord Jesus protected us in similar ways.

Another time, when we lived in Tanzania, we were confronted with difficult situations. We were confident that our Lord had angels surrounding us, protecting us especially when we traveled. All along the roads in the bush there were check-points, with roadblocks, set up by men who demanded money, or they threatened to shoot us. We just told them no, drove around the roadblocks and continued on to our destination.

I’ve told you a couple of situations that were dangerous, but that’s not where we live. Jesus wants to be a part of our everyday lives. He wants to be the center of our work, our leisure, our rest, our worship. He wants to be involved in our relationships with family, friends, neighbors and the strangers we encounter along the way. But here’s the thing, our gracious Heavenly Father provides peace of His continual presence and His protection no matter what situation we face. Philippians 4:7 “And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.” And as we just read in Isaiah 41:10 & 13, our Lord will take us by the hand and guide us on the path He wants us to go.

Isaiah 30:18 “And therefore, the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore, He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!” God sees our great need of His moment-by-moment intervention in our lives and the lives of our loved-ones. But God already has promised His 24/7 love and support of us His beloved children. We can always count on our Lord Jesus to keep His promises to us. There is not a moment that goes by that we are not in His heart and on His mind.

Conclusion: If we don’t see His Compassionate Hand and His bountiful blessings in our lives, perhaps we need to pray for the Lord to open our eyes so that we can more clearly see and abundantly praise Him for His marvelous provision for our lives. Like the two blind men on the road to Jericho, Matthew 20:33-34 “when Jesus asked them what they wanted, they cried, Lord, we want our eyes to be opened! And Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes; and instantly they received their sight and followed Him.” Jesus wants to do the same thing for us.