Great are the words of Isaiah

We've been studying the words of Isaiah in Sunday School this month.  This week Jared Moran was subbing and he called last night and asked me to share some comments on these verses in Chapter 43:

1 But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have ^aredeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

 2 When thou passest through the ^awaters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the ^bfire, thou shalt not be ^cburned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

 3 For I am the Lord thy God, the ^aHoly One of Israel, thy ^bSaviour: I gave ^cEgypt for thy ^dransom, Ethiopia and ^eSeba for thee.

 4 Since thou wast ^aprecious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

and to share a personal experience when the Savior helped me with a trial.

I do not pretend to understand the words of Isaiah, or to enjoy them.  I did appreciate the opportunity to ponder last night these few verses and to have had a thought come to me.  I was reading and looking at the footnotes and prayerfully pondering when I clicked on the word fire and it referred to the story in Daniel of Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego.  They were thrown into a fiery furnace but were unharmed.  In fact when they came out they didn't even have the scent of fire on them.  It occurred to me that the Savior walks with us through our personal trials and keeps us in His watch care.  That's the fiery furnace part.  But after a trail we often hold on to the scent of what we went through.  For example, someone who is hurt by an unkind comment might hold on to the hurt and angry feelings long after the offense has passed.  The Savior helps us get rid of those lingering feelings, that is a miracle.  Sometimes the things that happen to a person are too egregious to forgive alone, but when we hand it over to Him we can heal and forgive.  What a wonderful grace He offers us.  Each of us has trials, every day I would say.  Some small and some large.  We can count on Him to be there for us during, and to help us after.  I am grateful for that miracle.