Isaiah 41:17-20 – God Provides In Small Situations
Here in these verses, God gives further assurance and promise to His people. Is there thirst? God has provision for this. God knows your needs. Just as he knew the needs of the thirsty here, the ones who were frightened and desperate for something to drink, God knows our needs. He provides them in the best way and time. Even when, humanly speaking, things are absolutely desperate, things are absolutely outside of our control. When we are tempted to despair, when we are tempted to doubt His care and love, He shows his ability. He shows his willingness. He shows that He can and does deliver His people.
God is speaking not merely of our outward needs. But He is speaking of spiritual and eternal needs as well. Water is frequently a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Just as our bodies cannot long live without water, our souls cannot live without the Holy Spirit. We must be cleansed from our sin, and water is a picture of both forgiveness and cleansing from sin. Perhaps you have been desperately thirsty to know the living and true God. Your soul is withered by sin within you, and you are feeling crushed by the guilt. God provides water. In fact, He has provided a person who is the living water, our Lord Jesus Christ (John 4).
We have a lush picture of God’s provision in verse 19. Here, where there had been nothing but unrelieved dryness and deadness, there is a verdant forest. This is a picture of the conversion of the nations, but also of the change in a believer. God can make you no longer dead, dry, and desolate. He will make you green, He will make you live, He will make you thrive. For His glory, you shall be lush and green, even though all around you it may be rocky, dry, and dusty.
Why does God give life in the desert? We read in verse 20 that it is so we may see and know, consider and understand. We come to see Jehovah more clearly and know His ways better. And as we see Him and know Him more and more, how can we but love Him more? We see that He is the one, the only one, on whom we both may and must trust in every and all circumstances.
Questions
- What is water a picture of?
- How does God change a believer?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks for the glorious salvation we have in Christ.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.