“But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, ‘Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.’” (Isaiah 43:1-3 NLT)
There is a philosophy among some Christians that if you're having problems, you must not be living right. Well, I disagree with that, because what I just saw here in Isaiah says differently. When you're living right, then you'll go through floods, flames and fires. Let me turn that statement around and say, If you're not having trouble, you'd better check your experience with God, because when you get saved, the devil is going to try to destroy you and steal your salvation.
As Christians, we are engaged in a spiritual warfare that is very real. The fight is for the victory of our very souls. Sometimes we have to pass through the flames of fiery furnaces, but we have no need to worry. Throughout each and every situation, God will give us complete and total victory. God never gives half victories, He always does it right. The Word says, “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” God declares that when you go through deep waters of trouble, they will not overflow you, you will not drown. And when you go through the fiery trial, you shall not be burned, the flames shall not consume you.
Now, that does not mean the devil is going to roll over and play dead. As a child of God, you're engaged in a conflict. This is not a Sunday school picnic. The Christian life is warfare. The devil is real, and he is your very real enemy. But thanks be unto God, Jesus has given us power over all the works of the devil. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who loved us and died for us. God never intended for us to be victims. He intended for us to be the victors. He never intended for us to be overcome by the devil. We are to be the overcomers.
The devil may have knocked you down, but get right back up and start fighting the good fight of faith again. You may feel like you're on the bottom of the pack, but God's getting ready to give you enough Holy Ghost power to cast off your enemies on top of you. You may feel that the flames of warfare are getting hotter each day, but just keep on keeping on, for no flame will consume you.
Look at how the mighty warrior David successfully dealt with conflict. In 2 Samuel 5, as an example of how we too can fight our battles and be victors, in verses 1-3, representatives of all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and crowned him King of Israel. This was one of the greatest blessings of David's life. God had anointed him to be king when he was just a young lad, not even old enough, probably to shave. But he ran into a problem. Saul refused to get off the throne, so David was on the run and Saul was out to kill him.
It is about time that we, the Church, woke up and realized that our enemy, the devil, is out to kill us. Jesus says satan is a thief that “comes to steal, kill and destroy.” Never underestimate your enemy. Recognize that he is out to steal you blind of everything you get from God. Sometimes, after you receive some of your greatest blessings, the devil will show up and try to rob you of it. But just stand your ground, because “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”
When David heard the enemy was coming, he prepared for battle. The Bible says he went down and enquired of the Lord. I love this about David. When he knew he was going to meet conflict, he found a place to get alone to pray and he asked God what he should do. No matter what problem he faced, David sought God for direction. Oh, how we need to learn from David. When we're going through the flames of warfare, we need to call upon the Name of the Lord and seek His guidance. We must call upon Him, and the answer of victory will come.
David asked the Lord two questions; “Shall I go up to the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into my hand? And the Lord said unto David, ‘Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.’” David prayed, and God answered. God's answer was go up, get ready for battle, you don't have to be afraid, march forward, I'm going to be with you. Oh, I like that answer. God said, “Without a doubt, I will deliver the enemy into your hand.” That is what God is telling us. God is telling us, fight, go through the flames. God will deliver you. God will make a way. Victory is yours.
David went and defeated the Philistines, just as God promised He would. David exclaimed in 2 Samuel 5:20, “The Lord hath broken forth upon my enemies before me as the breach of waters.” You may feel like you're surrounded by the enemy and there is no way out of your problems, but I want you to know that God is a God of breakthrough. He will break through that problem and give you victory. You may say, “I just don't know what to do. I need help.” If you're in that situation, that's a good situation to be in, because, yes, you do need help. We all need help. We need the help of the Lord.
If you're in a bad situation right now, don't give up. You don't know how close you are to victory. It takes 212°F for water to boil. You don't know it, but you're at 211°. You've come too far to stop. Press your way through. Victory is just around the corner. The battle is not yours, the battle is the Lords. The flames of our warfare are growing in intensity each day, but never fear, for the flame cannot harm us. We are modern day Shadrach, Meschac and Abedinego's, and Jesus is in the flames with us! So, lift up your heads and shout the shout of victory. We are warriors of the cross.