A Way in the Wilderness
Isaiah 43
Written by
Shonda McBride, March 7, 2025Two years after my husband’s suicide, the Lord stirred in me to start looking for a new house. If I am honest, I told myself there was no way it was going to happen. For starters, I would have to get a four-bedroom home prepared to sell mostly by myself. Not only that, but there was a six-car garage and outdoor shed that still had a lot of my husband's belongings in it. I remember looking out the window and thinking to myself, “There is no way Lord.” I put the idea off for a while because no houses were even on the market. But the Lord kept on me. I felt like the Lord was running me out of my house, and I loved my house. It was home to me, and it is where I lived my entire marriage with my husband and raised our children. But God’s ways are bigger and better and Isaiah 43 is a reminder that God can and will do anything.
I happened to go to a day retreat during the beginning of this process and it was called “Into the Wilderness.” While I was at the retreat, the Lord spoke, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you”(Isaiah 43:2, ESV). I felt like I was entering the wilderness because I had no idea if and how the home selling and buying process would go. I also was still healing from my husband's death and suicide. The Lord says here that it's not a matter of whether we are going to go through the overwhelming waters or through the consuming fire, but when we do, we will not drown, we will not be burned, we will not even smell like we have been in a fire. Just as it was in Daniel 3:19-25, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were tossed into the fiery furnace and King Nebuchadnezzar had the furnace heated seven times more than it normally was. Seven times! But in verse 25, there were four men seen in the fire. God was with them and they were not burned nor did they even smell like fire.
God says in Isaiah 43:5 to “Fear not” because he is with them. We can know that God is with his children; loving, protecting, providing, and caring for them, and those truths will combat fear. I often forget, especially in the wilderness, that God never leaves me and his loving care is upon me, but that is exactly when Satan comes in and attacks. We have to stand firm in our position in Christ, remembering what God has said about us and the promises he has made.
During the buying and selling of the houses, God prepared a beautiful house for me. It was exactly what I was looking for; in a different school district for my children, which was needed, and eight doors down from my parents who needed help. It was truly sent from the Lord. As I was selling my home, an offer was placed the first day and they asked for no repairs. I had kept my Bible open on my prayer bench during the showings, and the day after I moved into my new home, I went to Church, and the couple behind me noticed my Bible, and they were the buyers of my house. What!? I did not even really comprehend what was taking place in that moment. But what seemed like a miracle and a presence of the Lord, turned devastating for me quickly. Satan robbed my joy in the blink of an eye. What was supposed to be another piece of my healing journey turned into a nightmare.
I forgot the Lord was with me and that he made a clear path, no roadblocks to get me into a new home but I was feeling trapped in my old home. The trauma from my husband's death plagued me and my mental health spiraled out of control. Instead of feeling love from my Creator, I felt condemnation and abandonment.
One day the Lord showed me the rest of Isaiah 43, “Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they can not rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick; Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (v.16-19).
The Lord is reminding the Israelites that he makes a way when there is no way just like he did for Moses in Exodus 14:16, “Lift your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.” Right before the Lord gives that instruction, he says, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (v.14). The Lord destroys our enemies and they are not able to rise again.
God goes on to tell them “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (v.18-19). God reminded me of this verse when I was being severely attacked by Satan, and felt that I did not deserve to leave my old house and I did not deserve this blessing that God had provided for me. God does not want us stuck in our past. When we stay stuck in regret, bitterness, fear, sadness, and more, we miss what God has for us now and miss why he created us. God asks the Israelites “Do you perceive it?” Do you have eyes and the mind to see what I'm doing for you? Isaiah 43 reminds us not to forget what God has done for us in the past, but do not stay there because he is doing things now. He who called you will finish what he started (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
Isaiah 43 reminded me that God started the moving process, and he was faithful to see me through even when I saw no way. Only God can make rivers in the desert. May God's Word today bless you, and encourage you to keep walking through whatever you are in. God is with you friend.
