Sustained

Isaiah 43:1-2

“But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 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 43:1-2)

Jerusalem lies in ruins. The Israelites are in exile in Babylonia, which has lasted a long time and the distress of the whole nation is at the very brink of utter hopelessness This is the context Isaiah weaves God’s words into. He promises that the Lord will liberate his people from their bondage, that this is a great beginning of the great era of salvation, in which all things will be made new. Their present suffering will only serve to make their future life and joy infinitely greater. Or as C.S. Lewis says, “They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.”