Forged in the Fires of Life

One of my good friends in Israel, Miriam Abramov, posted a similar graphic that prompted me to write this. I believe that I have related to the Israelis Messianic ministries so well because my life has been somewhat in parallel to the things they as a people have endured. That is one reason that as I returned to faith I was so captivated by the book of Isaiah. I knew the prophet was speaking to Israel as God was commenting on what their ‘life experience’ had been and would be – with the promises always included. God always said that in the end of it all, there was good for them from Him and He would reward them double for all they had been through.

You know, Job wasn’t wrong in so many of his arguments, he had walked uprightly before God and was undeserving of all the hell that fell on him instigated by the enemy. Just because God tells Job off at the end does not mean in any sense that Job was deserving of the evils that befell him, including friends piling on speculations about what he must have done to deserve such punishment from God. It was never from God.

Isaiah was the book that clarified for me what God’s position was on Israel and on me:

“Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.”

I saw the promises were FIRST to the Jews, then also to me. I could see me in every page of Isaiah speaking of the good, the bad and the promises of God to a people He chose for Himself, a people the Lord said He formed from the womb and promised to help them, saying, “Fear not, O Jacob, My servant.”

There would be floods and fires, but He would be with them through it all. . . and for all SERVANTS of God. It is not the circumstances of our lives that prove we are beloved of God. It is our enduring faith that shows we are.

Do not imagine that God’s promises to Israel EVER passed away.

Posted originally on July 13, 2026