Five Promises From Our God

Isaiah 41:10

Anticipating all the fears that we would encounter in this world, the Lord our God here gives us five great promises by which he says to every believer faced with danger and trouble, "Fear not...be not dismayed."

1. "I AM WITH THEE!" Were we left to ourselves to face our enemies (the world, the flesh, and the devil), we might well fear; but God says to the trembling saint, "I am with thee." Shall we not take refuge in him and be comforted? (See Psa. 46:1-3, 5-8, 10-11).

2. "I AM THY GOD!" The Almighty, Triune God is ours, as truly ours as we are his! If God is my Property, who or what shall I fear? A stranger might see a person injured and pass by indifferently. But a husband cannot be indifferent to the pains of his wife. A father cannot be indifferent to the troubles of his child. And our God is never indifferent to the troubles of his children (Zeph. 2:8; II Chron. 16:9).

3. "I WILL STRENGTHEN THEE!" We are told that the Lord will "put strength into his people" (Psa. 29:11). He will strengthen you with might in the inward man. Can he be in danger whose hands are made strong "by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob?" Your God will strengthen you to bear your troubles (II Cor. 12:5-9), endure temptation (I Cor. 10:13), and do his will (I Thess. 5:24).

4. "YEA, I WILL HELP THEE!" He "helpeth our infirmities" (Rom. 8:26). That means, when our burden is so heavy and cumbersome that we cannot with all our exertions support it, our God will take hold of it at the opposite end and bear it together with us. In other words,to imagine that any burden is too great for us to bear is to say that it is too great for God to bear! "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" No! And nothing is too hard for those to whom God says,"I will help thee."

5. "YEA, I WILL UPHOLD THEE WITH THE RIGHT HAND OF MY RIGHTEOUSNESS!" What more can we want? The eternal God is our Refuge! Beneath you are the everlasting arms (Deut. 33:27-29; Isa. 51:12-13). If God be for us, not all the powers of earth and hell combined can, with any effect, exert themselves against us (Rom.8:31-39). With such a God and Savior as we have in Christ Jesus, we have every reason to be comforted and fearless, even in the face of great trouble and in the midst of great enemies. Our safety is our God!

Don Fortner