↔️ Either Way

Everyone has that scripture.

The one that doesn’t just encourage them—it knows them.
The one that feels less like a verse and more like a voice.

For me, it’s Isaiah 43:1, then verse 2—in that order.
And it’s my favorite not because it’s poetic—though it is.
Not because it’s comforting—though it comforts deeply.

It’s my favorite because it’s God loving me in my love language.

There’s something unmistakably intimate about the way God speaks here.
He calls out Jacob and Israel in the same breath and then makes a declaration that stops me every time:

“Fear not… I have redeemed you…
I have called you by your name;
thou art Mine.”

That line alone would have been enough.

But it’s who He says it to that makes it unforgettable.

Jacob and Israel are the same person, but they are not the same man.
Jacob is the name shaped by striving, failure, manipulation, and survival.
Israel is the name God gave after the wrestling, after the touch, after the transformation.

One name carries history.
The other carries destiny.

And God refuses to separate them.

He doesn’t say, “You belong to Me once you become Israel.”
He doesn’t revoke His claim because Jacob still shows up.
He calls them both—and then says, “You are Mine.”

Either way.

That’s what makes this verse feel so personal to me.
It tells me I am His when I’m walking in promise and when I’m still carrying a reputation.
When I’m aligned and when I’m still being formed.
When I’m confident and when I’m limping.

Redeemed—either way.
Claimed—either way.
Loved—either way.

And then God does something else that seals it.

He offers proof.

Verse 2 doesn’t read like a warning to me.
It reads like evidence.

“When you pass through the waters…
When you walk through the fire…”

Not if you avoid them.
Not if I shield you from them.

But when you go through them.

And here’s the unspoken truth:
If you’re still here after the fire and the flood, then you already know.

You know why you survived.
You know Who you belong to.

Because the waters didn’t overtake you.
The fire didn’t consume you.
And that wasn’t chance—it was covenant.

Some things don’t need to be explained to people who’ve lived them.
Those of us who’ve been through it don’t need convincing.
We recognize ownership when we see it.

This is why Isaiah 43 isn’t just scripture to me.
It’s testimony.

It’s God saying, “The fact that you’re standing is the proof.”
It’s Him saying, “I was there—and I still am.”
It’s Him declaring love, not conditionally, not selectively—but completely.

Jacob or Israel.
Before or after.
Fire or flood.

Either way.