When You Go Through Deep Waters . . .

Medicine for the soul!

(“Every Day!” Author unknown, 1872)

“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

The people of God are not promised exemption from trial — but support under it!

The Lord does not engage to lead His children by a smooth path — but to furnish them with shoes of iron and brass, that they may safely walk the rugged and thorny road.

He does not promise to bridge over the waters of sorrow and the rivers of tribulation — but assures them of His presence as they pass through them. “I will be with you!” He says, “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.”

Christian pilgrim — will not this suffice?

Support in trial, will suit you better than exemption from it.

Affliction and sorrow, in the hands of the great Physician — are medicine for the soul!

The wounds He inflicts — are for the healing of the spirit!

The fire He may lead you through will not burn — but only purify and brighten you!

//Women at the Well Ministries – Facebook – 4/4/2024//


Minute Meditation – Those Little Crosses We Carry

When God allows sorrow and affliction to come into our lives, God always has a timetable different from ours. God asks us to bear our cross for a certain period of time and nothing we try to do seems to lift that cross from our shoulders entirely until we are transformed and God is ready to elevate us to a new level of love. What I am mainly talking about here are those little neuroses and disabilities and anxieties that come into our lives and which we try desperately to understand and rid ourselves of, sometimes for years on end. And then one day they are no longer there and we find ourselves ready to meet life, more humble and trusting in the goodness and providence of God. 

— from the book Song of the Sparrow: New Poems and Meditations by Murray Bodo, OFM

//Franciscan Media//