I am – I Will

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.

These well-known and loved words from the prophet Isaiah have been the source of comfort for many. I’m sure most of us have gladly received this as a Rhema promise from the Lord at one time or another.

This is amazing.

Fear not for I am with you. This is both a command and a promise. We can take this seriously because God is the God of all the earth who rules over the nations. We can fear not because God has told us numerous times that I am with you.

There are so many more reasons not to fear, worry or be anxious, because God is God of the I Am, and God of the I Will. He’s the great I Am and the great I will.

First, there is I AM. God exists in the eternal now. In timeless eternity it is always a now. He always exists. God always is. Our human mind finds it difficult to understand let alone express the timelessness and eternal aspect of God because we have always lived within time and it is the only measure for us of existence.

The only way we can come close to explaining God is to say that He always was (history), He always is (present) and He always will be (future). But God is not subject to time as we are. He exists outside of time and space. After all remember that He created time!

So when God says I AM, He is referring to His timeless existence, of which He is Master. He always is. God’s existence is in that realm, where it is nigh impossible for us to understand because we are only human, and only God is God. He exists and is Lord, Master and Sovereign over all things, including the world in which we live. That’s His I AM.

Then, there is I will. So when God says I Will, He is referring to His Sovereignty in lowering Himself, reducing Himself, stepping down from His eternal throne, to come into the sphere of human existence, driven by His love for us. He enters the time and space of humanity and His activity there is within humanity’s present or future. That’s His I will. (Philippians 2:5-11).

But here’s something very important. I AM always comes before I will. God’s existence always comes before His working in our lives. His existence is superior to ours. Who God is, comes before what He does in our lives.

So in our text for this Brief Word, we read I AM before we read I will. I am with you, I am your God.

Years ago, J.B. Phillips wrote a wonderful book titled, Your God Is Too Small. In it, he showed how when people forget the greatness of God, they easily become dismayed. But God says, do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

An understanding of God’s greatness, counters dismay. A understanding of God’s presence with us, counters fear.

When God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM: (Exodus 3:14), it might seem nonsensical to refer to one’s self with the phrase, I AM WHO I AM. Yet it reveals something important about God — that He has no equal. There is no equivalent for God but God. If you place God on the one side of your symbol of equation (=), there is nothing to put on the other but Himself. Nothing at all comes close to be equal with God.

Ah yes. It’s Identity before Activity. Or Presence before Power.

God’s strength and glory, make Him able to help us. But it is His love that makes Him say, I will help you.

As I have said many times, God is not God of the, I might, I could, I would, I should. No. He is God of the I will. And an I will from God means He surely will!

Hear what C H Spurgeon says of this verse.

Martin Luther used to say, that to comfort a desponding spirit is as difficult as to raise the dead, but then we have a God who both raises the dead from their graves and His people from their despair … May the oil of joy be exchanged for mourning by many sorrowing ones this morning!
Sometimes my text is a trumpet of alarm or a trombone of lamentation, but today it is a harp of sweetest sound. Saul was subject to fits of deep despondency, but when David, the skilful harper laid his hand among the obedient strings, the evil spirit departed, overcome by the subduing power of melody. My text is such a harp, and if the Holy Spirit will but touch its strings, its sweet discourse shall charm away the demon of despair. “I am with thee”—it is a harp of ten strings, containing the full chords of consolation. Its notes quiver to the height of ecstasy or descend to the hollow bass of the deepest grief. — C H Spurgeon.

God’s word convicts and comforts.

Today my friend, hear these words of God. Let fear be banished because He is with you. Let sadness and sorrow, depression and despair be flushed out of your system by God’s word. Because God is God and from His glorious greatness and His unfathomable love, He will help you.

Fear not. Be not dismayed. Why? Because He says I am your God. He says I am with you. He says I will strengthen you. He says I will help you. He says I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

That’s our God! All glory be to His awesome, majestic, holy, righteous and glorious Name.