Isaiah 43:2: “I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.” Several years ago, Simon and Garfunkel had a hit song titled, “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” It was very popular and carried a wonderful tune. The lyrics described times of trouble, darkness, and being down and out. The chorus line was: “Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down.” I am sure that I have never really grasped the words, “I will lay me down.” It must have meant that the songwriter would lay himself down as the bridge over troubled waters. What I do know is that Jesus is our answer to times of troubled waters in life. He is the one who laid down His life over all the waters and rivers we face. We are to claim His promises as given in our Scripture this week, “as you pass through (not over) these waters, they will not overwhelm you.” I once heard a Christian speaker refer to this song and made the statement that we are to let Jesus be our bridge over troubled waters. While this sounds good, it is not theologically or Biblically correct. As we face troubled waters, Jesus is our bridge through troubled waters, not over them.

God will be with us when we go through hard times and dangerous waters. He showed up for Noah, Moses, Abraham, Joseph, Nehemiah, David, Daniel, Jonah, Job, and Paul. They each went through times of trouble, but they did not have a bridge over them, and neither do we. We go through them and get to the other side through His grace, mercy, and leading. When we trust Him, these times will not overwhelm us as given in our Bible promise this week. It is a matter of our trusting and obeying as we walk with Him through the troubled waters in life. The bottom line is that “Jesus Christ has laid Me down for us.” What a promise and assurance we have in Him!