“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10, NKJV)

The LORD told Israel that they were His servants. He had chosen their ancestor Abraham and even called him His friend. Because God had chosen them, He would not cast them away.

But now Judah was facing a great threat. The king of Assyria had conquered 46 cities in Judah. Then he came against Jerusalem and pledged to destroy the city. Had God abandoned them? Would He allow them to be defeated?

When we are prosperous we feel the LORD’s favor. We know that we couldn’t succeed unless God were with us. At least we should feel this way and be thankful for God’s blessings. But what happens when we are not prosperous? What happens when people reject or abandon us? What happens when we lose our job or suffer a great financial loss? What happens when our health suddenly nosedives? There is the temptation to think that God has left us. Did we do something to offend Him?

Because we sometimes experience self-doubt, we question if God will really help us. We have faith that He will help someone else, but we wonder if He will really come through for us.

Isaiah 41:10 is a wonderful promise because we all need assurance. When things go wrong, we easily give way to fear. We play the “what if” game, imagining numerous disastrous scenarios. But do we know that we are secure in Christ? God is for us and not against us. We are accepted, not because of any good thing that we have done, but because we believe In Jesus. God promises to strengthen, help and uphold us with His righteous right hand. We may not understand why bad things are happening…we may not clearly see the way out…but we can trust that when we need Him most, God will be there to lift us up and carry us through.