you are mine

Lo, I have sought you, following you upon the hills and pursuing you through the barren wastes. Yes, I have called after you but you have not heard. You thought in your heart that you would find me, and you have set out in your haste to seek for Me, but you have looked for Me in vain...Do not rebuke Me, neither complain that I have left you alone. Lo, I am at your side, but your fretfulness has raised an iron curtain between us. For when you are utterly finished and exhausted in your struggling; when you have come to the end of all your striving; when you are ready to abandon your intellectual pursuit, and when you cast yourself upon Me, then shall you know surely I have been constantly at your very side; that I have never deserted you. ~From Come Away My Beloved by Francis J. Roberts

*****

But now, this is what the LORD says—
       he who created you, O Jacob,
       he who formed you, O Israel:
       "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
       I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
       I will be with you;
       and when you pass through the rivers,
       they will not sweep over you.
       When you walk through the fire,
       you will not be burned;
       the flames will not set you ablaze.
 or I am the LORD, your God,
       the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
       I give Egypt for your ransom,
       Cush and Seba in your stead.  ~Isaiah 43:1-3 [NIV]