Overwhelmed Nut Not Overcome

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” (Isa 43:2 AV)

 

The first thing to note here is the waters, rivers, fire, and flame are not removed.  They are still part of the experience.  What is significant is the LORD is with those who go through these things and there will be no permanent harm done.  The rushing water may still cause fatigue.  The flame may still impress its heat.  The rushing rivers may still sap warmth.  The fire may still leave its stench of smoke.  What the LORD promises is when we pass through these things, He will be with us and we will arrive on the other side.  The fear of being overwhelmed is genuine.  We are used to being in control of the events of our lives.  This fear is what keeps us from making some very foolish decisions.  The fear of being overwhelmed keeps us within the range of our capabilities.  However, like a flash flood, life has a way of putting us in circumstances that we could not have foreseen.  These circumstances, if allowed to, can overwhelm us to the point of destroying a life.  In such a situation, the promise is given above.

The house we have recently moved from had a propensity for flooding.  Build on sandy silt, if it rained very hard and fast, then the drainage system could not keep up and the basement would flood.  This was common in homes of the same area.  It was not out of the ordinary to hear of church folk who could not make it to church because their basement had filled with water.  This was something new to me.  I had never grown up in an area that was concerned with flooding.  Snowstorms that could bury a house, yes.  An instant indoor pool, no.  I remember the first such occurrence.  The weather brought seven inches of rain in less than an hour.  The thing about flooding is that you don’t know when it will stop.  The sump pump couldn’t keep up a supplemental pump was dropped in the pit. This didn’t stop the water from coming in.  We were frantic with wet vacs and mops.  Anything to stop the damage to property.  As we worked, it seemed the harder we worked the more the water seeped in.  Over time and with a lot of effort, the mess was contained and the damage held to a minimum.  A funny thing happened the next time such a storm blew up.  We didn’t panic so much.  The first time, we were overwhelmed.  Consequent times, we knew what was coming and were prepared for the commitment.

The point is, we cannot control the events of our lives which will overwhelm us from time to time.  But we do not have to let them drawn us.  In fact, they will not do as much.  The reason we know this is because of the promise given above.  If we are overwhelmed to the point of surrender and destruction, we have placed our faith and hope in the wrong thing – ourselves.  We cannot get overwhelmed if our faith is in the LORD.  He has promised to keep our head above water.  He has promised to clothe us with fireproof garments.  The overwhelming events of life have little power over us because God is always there.  He will not suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able.  Again, we may get wet.  We may smell like smoke.  We may get really tired fighting the current.  We may cough a bit as the smoke enters our lungs.  But what will not happen is the LORD will not forsake us.  He will always be there to be our strength and hope.  That is what a loving God does.