..Because I love you

Isaiah 43:1-4


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.

 For I am the LORD, your God,
       the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
       I give Egypt for your ransom,
       Cush  and Seba in your stead.

 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
       and because I love you,
       I will give men in exchange for you,
       and people in exchange for your life.

I Feel like a question that we often ask God is "why?" Why is all this happening to me? Why do people suffer and die everyday? Why is there hurt? And the questions go on and on.

Man is inherently sinful. Our hearts rebel against God day after day. I think a lot of times we do not even realize how much we miss the mark. Why do bad things happen? 

Two reasons: 

1.) God is just - If our sinful and disobedient acts go unpunished, how on earth would we know we've done wrong? 

2.) A faith that has not been tested cannot be trusted. 

And one sentence that ties both those two points together is this: Because God loves us.

Believe me, I am well aware that many people wonder "How could a loving God let this happen?"

That is a deep question. 

Have you ever tried to explain something to a friend and they just weren't catching it? It is at that moment that you place your hands on their shoulders and shake them back and forth saying, "WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND??" and then hopefully, you exorcise some patience and try to explain again. We, as humans, are slow to understanding and when God is standing in front of us saying "I love you, follow me," and we don't see Him.. He just has to grab our shoulders and say "I'm RIGHT here!" And then patiently.. he calls you again, and again, and again.  And it is not to go unsaid that the shaking is not always gentle. Sometimes... we just need some hardcore shakey shake shakin' up. 

Now, please notice verse 2 "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." *Pause* The dictionary definition for "when" is "at or during the time that."So plug that in "At or during the time that you pass through the waters, forge deep and fast moving rivers, and walk through a hot fire...." *Un-Pause* Yep.. bad things are gonna come your way. But it is your choice to try to do it on your own strength, or let someone carry you. 

 Following God is something you do by faith. You take a step of faith... and another and another and it's one step at a time.  And God by no means says "Follow me and your life will be happy day care free all the time." Nope.. there's gonna be some tough stuff to get through. BUT!!! The greatest adventures always involve a little bit of uncertain dangers, that's what makes them so great! :) 

One thing about me is that I LOVE adventure! Over the summer my siblings and I decided to have a river adventure. It wasn't going to be all that extreme, just hope in a river at a certain point, float it for about a mile and climb out, go home and watch a movie. But, there came to be a problem, as we approached the river to start our hour long adventure, we noticed ominous black clouds to the south. (South being the direction the river flowed and the direction we were heading.) After some brief hesitation and discussion, my siblings felt that the storm would not reach us for some time and we would be just fine. I was super anxious about it.. also knowing that starting down an hour long river journey at 8pm did not leave for much sunlight either. Never the less, we jumped in, stretched out on our floating rafts and were soon drifting casually along down the river. The first thing I noticed was that the river was much deeper than usual as it had been raining earlier that day. For the most part.. the water came up to my neck and in some places, was well over my head. It was about 10 minutes into our adventure when we started hearing thunder rolling in from the distance. I voted we stop right then and there.. but my brothers assured me that they had checked the weather before hand and the storm would not come. It was my sister who suggested we just try to get down the river faster. So, we paddled. We attempted to go as fast as we could, exhausting our energy in the mean time. At the half way point, the clouds had moved in and the thunder was loud and the sky was growing progressively dark. Then came the lightning. 

That was it. We had to get out of the water. The banks of this river were about 10ft high and almost completely straight up and down. We clung to the grass and weeds growing on the side and climbed out of the river. We found our selves standing in a field with half a mile of field for us to reach either the pick up car or the drop of car. Also.. the river flows away from the highway... so returning to the road was out of the question. The cranky lightning that was striking the ground not far from where our pick-up was located did not appeal to me as far as running towards the storm to retrieve our second car. The only thing about running for our other car that was a mile north of where this crazy storm was, was that there was the river and some random persons corn and bean fields in between us and the car. 

While discussing our options.. the bugs in the field were incredible. In desperation, we grabbed up mud from the field and coated ourselves with it so as not to be eaten alive. Finally, we opted to run away from the storm. Now, did I mention we were exhausted from paddling half a mile as fast as we could in the river? We were now running barefooted, carrying deflated air mats, covered in mud, away from a giant storm that left no guarantee that we would not be struck dead at any given moment.  So, we had to forge the river again, and it was one of those wonderful spots where it was over my head. (Deflated air mat = have to swim and carry something in hands at same time). So, after crossing the river (being in the water with lightning and thunder are a wonderful way to get your adrenaline rushin) we groped and clung to the grassy, muddy walls of the river that seemed to be much steeper than the other side we'd crawled out of. After tripping over a hidden fallen branch and crashing down a few corn stalks, me and my 3 siblings were, legit, running for our lives. 

We didn't carry any cellphones with us.. so there was no way to call for help. Also, since it had been raining all day, the field was muddy, which slowed down our walking. We also had to be careful to walk with our hands at the level of our eyes, lest the corn leaves cut our eyes. I'm gonna be honest.. I was freaking out. I had woken up at 5 that morning and walked 6 miles, then I paddled down the river, then I climbed up the steep banks twice.. now I was moving through a muddy field as fast as I could and I was not sure I had the strength to keep going. But, it's a wonderful thing that we all love Jesus. So from time to time as we were making our way through this corn field, one of us would pray. We begged God to hold off the storm just a bit longer. Half way through this field we realized that the lightning was not just behind us, but striking the ground 1 or 2 miles to our left.. and to our right... and in front of us. But looking up.. there was an opening in the super dark clouds. There was a window of safety above us. 

As we kept trudging.. we kept praying.. "God, hold off this storm until we can reach safety."

So! eventually.. we reached our car. With one finally burst of energy, we made a dead sprint for it and climbed all in. As SOON as we shut the doors.. the sky let loose. Everything was pitch black and the rain and thunder and lightning happened all at once. From there we went and picked up our other car, headed off our parents (who had come seeking us when the storm had reached them) and returned home. 

Cold, exhausted, cut up, bruised, muddy, alive. That was an adventure. 

Point being, God kept us safe. When the river was over my head and I was already exhausted.. he carried me. When the mud was deep and thick and threatening to slow my walk through the corn field, he guided my steps. When the storm threatened all around us and we had no shelter.. He held it off. Because he loves us. He gave us an opportunity to trust.

Now, sometimes, our moments to trust God aren't always so obvious. But the question is... what are you gonna do when the waters rise and the fire rages and the rivers threaten to drag you down stream? 

Trust God and let him carry you... or go at it alone and fail.