When You Go Through…

Isaiah 42:17 - 43:7

Here is how I see Isaiah unpacking this passage:

First, he addresses why we face the adversity we do.
What we really need when we face adversity.
How the Lord provides what we really need to face our adversity.
How to avail ourselves of what the Lord provides when facing adversity.

The main point is this: The presence of God is our only peace in adversity.

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I. WHY DO WE FACE THE ADVERSITY WE ALL DO? (Isaiah 42:18-25)

Living as a human being involves dealing with adversity. Setbacks, cruelty, affliction are “normal” parts of life as we know it. Everyone goes through hard times. Everyone. The writer of Job puts it poetically, “Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” There are at least three competing ideas out there today as to why this is.

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The Bible offers an answer too. In fact you catch the Bible’s answer by reading between the lines of Isaiah’s text here.

The Bible contends that the Being, who is Creator, is also the one place in the known universe with whom peace and joy are constantly and abundantly present. (Ps 16:11) The good news is that there IS such a place.

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C.S. Lewis put it this way: “God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

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II. WHAT WE REALLY NEED WHEN WE FACE ADVERSITY. (Isaiah 43:1)

It is worth noting that what the Lord offers through Isaiah as our real need in adversity is very different from what we typically think we need when adversity strikes. We tend to imagine that our best life now is very similar to the one we had before adversity came.

In our adversity, our greatest need is not to be taken out of the adversity, but rather to find the One whose presence is peace and joy forevermore. We do not merely need God to get us out of this fix so that we can get our lives back on track. We need to abandon our off-track lives for the one He is leading us into. We do not merely need to be rescued, we need a Rescuer.

Adversity is nothing if God is present. Comfort is nothing if He is absent.

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III. HOW DOES THE LORD PROVIDE FOR US WHAT WE REALLY NEED? (Isaiah 43:1)

The word “redeemed” here speaks to a rich, ancient concept that is mostly lost on modern Westerners like us. It is the concept of a kinsman-redeemer. Like no other prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah foresees a servant of the Lord, a person born of David’s line, who becomes the kinsman-redeemer for God’s people. A person who comes to be with us in our adversity and to shepherd us through it safely home.

Isaiah is talking about Jesus.

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IV. HOW DO WE AVAIL OURSELVES OF WHAT THE LORD PROVIDES WHEN FACING ADVERSITY? (Isaiah 43:1,5)

The answer in the text is found in the two “FEAR NOTS” in this passage.

Fear not, for I have redeemed you (Isa 43:1)
Fear not, for I am with you (Isa 43:5)

Here is what the Lord is saying. This thing that has come upon you is from Me. Whatever you have done to bring upon yourself is over. I have taken up the debt upon Myself and paid it in full. I am what you need right now and I will be with you. I will bring you home.