Yes We can…Because He can!

Yes We can…Because He can!

"But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, 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” (Isaiah 43:1-3).

We are about to turn to a new chapter of our lives, and it seems as time flows faster every year! I can see that many of you are nodding your heads. This time of the year is always a full of disappointment and excitement for me. It is a full of disappointment because of the plans that I could not accomplished and of the mistakes (often the stupid mistakes) that I made over the year. It is depressing to think about them.

Still, it is a full of excitement, because the LORD who formed us, redeemed us, and summoned us by our names declares that we are “HIS!” and that “forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

I do not know how the new things will look like. Even though they occur in the form of fire and hardship, our Savior promises us that “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” (Isaiah 43:2-3).

Because God spoke those words as recorded in the Scriptures, because the good, holy, and sovereign God loves us, and because our sorrow that we endure in the hope of our King will turn into the eternal thanksgiving, we can still believe in him; we can still hope in him; we can still continue our journey with him. Yes, we can, because “HE” can all the time. Let’s commit ourselves to follow him once again in 2019.