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Your Daily Bible Verse - How God Helps When You Feel Uncertain (Isaiah 41:10) · LifeAudio

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio Hello and thank you for listening to Your
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  Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each
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  Speaker 1: day to learn more about God and His will for us.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jessica VanRoekel, and after this short word
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  Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible verse. Isaiah
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  Speaker 1: chapter 41 verse 10. Today's Bible verse is Isaiah chapter
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  Speaker 1: 41 verse 10. So do not fear for I am
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  Speaker 1: with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God.
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  Speaker 1: I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold
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  Speaker 1: you with my righteous right hand. I want you to
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  Speaker 1: picture driving across a bridge over a wide, deep river.
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  Speaker 1: All you see is the road ahead as the bridge
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  Speaker 1: starts to go up a steep incline before it starts
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  Speaker 1: to go down. There's water on both sides and the
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  Speaker 1: sky above with a really long drop between you and
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  Speaker 1: the deep water below. I've driven over a bridge just
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  Speaker 1: like that. but I've ridden on a train over a
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  Speaker 1: large lake in a national park. There were no guardrails
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  Speaker 1: like a bridge has, just the train tracks keeping the
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  Speaker 1: train in place. I couldn't see the engineering, the steel beams,
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  Speaker 1: or the concrete supports. All I saw was water and sky.
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  Speaker 1: I simply needed to believe that the train tracks were there.
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  Speaker 1: There are times when we face situations which make us
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  Speaker 1: feel suspended over a steep drop or a deep lake.
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  Speaker 1: We can't see how things will work out or, like
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  Speaker 1: the bridge, we can't see the supports. This is a
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  Speaker 1: great picture to remind us that security doesn't come from seeing.
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  Speaker 1: It comes from the One who promised to hold us.
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  Speaker 1: Today's verse reminds us that We don't have to figure
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  Speaker 1: everything out or even to understand why something has happened.
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  Speaker 1: God invites us to trust Him to hold us up.
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  Speaker 1: The context of Isaiah 41, verse 10 is encouragement for
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  Speaker 1: the Israelites. You know, they seem to need it often
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  Speaker 1: because of their struggle to remain in a faithful relationship
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  Speaker 1: with the Lord. But... And because of the reconciliation that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus made possible, New Testament followers of Jesus Christ also
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  Speaker 1: have become God's chosen servants and can receive the encouragement
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  Speaker 1: we find in today's verse. And sometimes, I don't know
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  Speaker 1: about you, but I struggle with being faithful to our God,
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  Speaker 1: and I need the reminder that He is there to
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  Speaker 1: help hold us up. The first phrase in this verse is,
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  Speaker 1: Fear not, for I am with you. Fear is a
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  Speaker 1: natural and beneficial feeling which arises in the presence of
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  Speaker 1: anticipation or danger and moves us to avoid it, like
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  Speaker 1: a hot stove or the edge of a cliff as
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  Speaker 1: you're climbing up a mountain. God knows we will feel
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  Speaker 1: fear and how we will react to it. When we're
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  Speaker 1: faced with circumstances out of our control, like sickness or
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  Speaker 1: illness or or just a struggle to grow in him.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of running away from him, God is inviting us
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  Speaker 1: to remember that he is with us. You see, often
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  Speaker 1: we feel alone when we face the things in life
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  Speaker 1: which cause us so much hurt, and this loneliness can
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  Speaker 1: quickly turn to feelings of dismay. It's as if courage
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  Speaker 1: vanishes and disillusionment sets in. But God reminds us that
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  Speaker 1: He is ours. He says, I am your God. He
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  Speaker 1: doesn't abandon or forsake. He remains with us. When fear
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  Speaker 1: and dismay run rampant in a person's heart, strength fades,
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  Speaker 1: but God says, I will help you. The International Standard
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  Speaker 1: of Bible Encyclopedia tells us that true help is sought
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  Speaker 1: for in Yahweh. The name God gave himself, which means
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  Speaker 1: I am. You see, the one who believes in him
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  Speaker 1: is exhorted to trust him and to not depend on
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  Speaker 1: outside helps such as avoidance, addiction, shopping, working, refusing to rest.
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  Speaker 1: We can trust him and depend on him for strength.
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  Speaker 1: Then today's verse ends with this phrase, I will uphold
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  Speaker 1: you with my righteous right hand. This is a figurative idiom,
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  Speaker 1: and it is the use of hand in the Old Testament.
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  Speaker 1: It's an idiom for God's supreme authority and almighty power.
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  Speaker 1: You see, God's hand is able to uphold and guide us.
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  Speaker 1: When people forget the greatness of God, they become dismayed.
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  Speaker 1: Look at what happened with the Israelites. Look what happens
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  Speaker 1: with us. Fear and discouragement can plague us when we
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  Speaker 1: are alone, but honestly, we are never alone because God
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  Speaker 1: is with us. Forgetting, wallowing in dismay, and feeling weak
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  Speaker 1: can lead us to prop up idols in our lives,
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  Speaker 1: but God holds us upright in all of our times
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  Speaker 1: of need. When we function or respond to God in
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  Speaker 1: fear and unbelief, what we're really saying to him is
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  Speaker 1: that he's not with us. He's not the God of
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  Speaker 1: glory and might and that he doesn't really love us.
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  Speaker 1: But God chose us and he loves us so much.
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  Speaker 1: When he says he is with us, it's a promise
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  Speaker 1: we can take seriously. Romans 8, verse 31 says this,
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  Speaker 1: if God is for us, who can be against us?
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  Speaker 1: It might seem like we are all alone in our suffering,
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  Speaker 1: but remember, God is with us. He gives us grace
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  Speaker 1: when we need it. He gives us strength to face
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  Speaker 1: all of life's circumstances. He helps us through times of
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  Speaker 1: crisis by giving us hope and peace. He provides for
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  Speaker 1: our needs, and He strengthens us in our efforts to
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  Speaker 1: fulfill His purpose for our lives today. If you are
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  Speaker 1: experiencing pain and feel uncertain about life, remember God is
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  Speaker 1: with you. He is your help. He can give you
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  Speaker 1: the strength you need to take the next step. Lean
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  Speaker 1: on him today. He stands by you come what may.
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  Speaker 1: Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you
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  Speaker 1: remind us over and over and over again that you
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  Speaker 1: are with us. You are God with us. Lord, we
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  Speaker 1: need your help. We need your strength. You are our God.
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  Speaker 1: And God, we rely on you. We lean on you today.
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  Speaker 1: And we're going to praise your name. And we're going
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  Speaker 1: to look to you for our strength and our support.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, amen.