Common Words, Eternal Weight
The Power of Seemingly Insignificant Words
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee… Isaiah 43:2
Common words
There are many words we use every single day — in conversation, in books, in magazines — that feel so ordinary we hardly notice them. They slip past us because they are so… common.
Usually, they aren’t the words carrying the main idea of a sentence. They’re not the big, heavy nouns or the dramatic verbs. And yet, without them, it would be nearly impossible to convey meaning. Words like you or I. Imagine trying to hold a conversation without them — language would collapse.
These little words are the glue that holds our sentences together. In fact, in any language they are essential for context. And here’s the surprising part: those small, almost invisible words are sometimes the most powerful of all. Even a single letter can carry enough weight to shift an entire doctrine.
Take John 1:1 for example:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
One small addition changes everything. The Jehovah’s Witnesses insert the letter “a” — “the Word was a god.” That tiny letter undermines the deity of Christ and opens the door for countless to deny who Jesus truly is. A single letter — yet it changes eternity.
This is why Jesus said not a jot or tittle (the tiniest Hebrew marks) will pass from God’s Word until all is fulfilled. Every comma, every full stop, every little word is there on purpose. None are wasted.
The danger is, when we speed-read Scripture, we skim right past these words — the very words that carry life-changing certainty.
Of the many words worthy of looking at in the Bible, I have chosen two from this passage in Isaiah 43:2; ‘through’ and ‘will’.
Some facts
The word through appears 463 times in Scripture which means its a relatively common word.
The word will appears 3837 times in Scripture which shows it a very common word.
Thinking deeply on the scriptures brings these seemingly insignificant words to life. If we stop and think about the significance and implications of these two words concerning our life as believers, it brings them into a whole new light. WHY?
Because these two seemingly insignificant words are words of certainty and certainty is critical commodity when you live a life that consists of mountains tops and valleys.
Two Words Worth Stopping For
In Isaiah 43:2 we read:
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.”
Two tiny, common words here are worth pausing on: through and will.
Through — It speaks of passage, movement, not getting stuck. God never says if you get trapped in the waters if the fire consumes you. He says you will pass through. The trial is real, but so is the exit.
Will — This is not a word of suggestion, it’s not maybe, it’s not probably. It is certainty. God is not hedging His bets or offering vague comfort. He is declaring what will happen. His presence is guaranteed.
We will dig deeper into these two amazing words next post.
