“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.” Isaiah 43:2
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
I remember very clearly the morning I went into labour with my first baby. The contractions started off more as discomfort than pain. As time went on, they intensified and got more painful, more frequent, and lasted longer. I was in labour for about 22 hours before I had to have an emergency C-section, but I know a lot of women who’ve gone longer (yikes!). Some go all natural, others go for pain medication, some have more difficult experiences than others, but what we all have in common is we knew that the day would come. We knew to expect contractions and we knew to expect that the whole experience was likely to be a combination of beautiful, scary, exciting and painful. Emphasis on painful. The beautiful usually comes later.
Don’t let them tell you otherwise.
But that’s a whole other thing.
My point is, a pregnant woman knows that giving birth probably won’t be easy. So even as she goes through this pain, she doesn’t panic. She may be afraid of the unknown, especially if it’s her first or if she’s had a complicated pregnancy, but all things being equal, she won’t panic. At least not at the fact that she’s having contractions in her 9th month of pregnancy. If you look at the scriptures quoted above you will notice that God never said “If you pass through the waters,” or “If you pass through the rivers,” or “In this world you might have trouble.” God tells us “when you pass through…” and He makes it clear that in this world “you will have trouble.” That alone should be a heads up.
Expect trouble.
Expect to pass through waters and rivers and fire.
Expect pain.
But a heads up does not mean it will hurt any less, just like a pregnant woman can read every book on pregnancy and motherhood and it still won’t reduce the pain of childbirth. But as the saying goes, ‘Knowledge is power.’ And here is the knowledge that God has armed us with. The wonderful thing is that along with the heads up is a promise that we’re never alone, and that all the coming disasters will not consume us. We have the promise that Christ has overcome…not will overcome…He has overcome the world. No need to panic. Look at the storm as it approaches and say, “Ah…so this is what my Father warned me about.”
And as you go through the waters and rivers and fire and whatever trouble may come, remember that God will be with you, they will not sweep over you, it will not consume you, and God has overcome the world!
So take a deep breath, and stay calm.
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