The First Move

 “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.” Isaiah 43:2.

The other day while walking I was almost swept over by the all-consuming currents of grief. I was trying to remember how old my sister Beth was when she got pregnant. When I finally came up with age 32 it struck me again that she only had 8 ½ years with her daughter before the Lord took Beth home. My mind immediately was drawn back to the 11 months that she ferociously battled a relentless cancer. I became overwhelmed thinking about the bigger battle – the battle in her mind. I began imagining the utter anguish and despair that must have been her private companion considering the probability of missing Sydney growing up. Tears starting running down my cheeks, my heart started feeling the crack again, and the ground beneath me felt like disappearing sand as the ocean beckoned the crashing wave back out to sea. But in that very instant, the Lord placed on my heart through a song a reminder of His constant Presence with her during that season. The song reminded me that there was another in the fire standing next to her…there was another in the water holding back the sea…there is a cross that bore that burden of how she’s been set free! (Based on Another in the Fire by Hillsong)

No matter how daunting our situation looks like up ahead, He has gone before us. No matter how heartbreaking our grief currently is, He is right beside us. No matter how big our failures have been, He has followed behind us to sweep it all away through His forgiveness. He will be faithful if we tune our ears and focus our eyes on His movement through it all.

As Casting Crown's song states, 'The cross is the proof that God made the first move' in His faithfulness towards you and me. The cross bears the burden of our failures carried by Christ. The cross boasts victorious triumph over sin and death. The cross displays the love that covers us by the Trinity. And finally, the cross points the way to eternal life in Heaven.