Fluctuat Nec Mergitur: My Testimony of God Confirming My Call to the Storm-tossed City upheld by God's Grace

One of the countless many ways the Lord has confirmed His will for me to be in Paris as an ambassador of Christ and His Kingdom came through a particularly powerful series of events involving Isaiah 54:10-12, the motto of Paris, and a very shy girl’s response to God’s love.

Yesterday, after church I got to share the following testimony with two women we met, one from Germany and the other from Colombia. That’s one thing I really love about living on mission in Paris: it seems that nearly every tribe, tongue, and nation is represented here. I testified as we stood at Place de la République, a famous Parisian landmark across the street from our church and within view of a recently renovated restaurant aptly called: Fluctuat Nec Mergitur.

Fuctuat Nec Mergitur: The motto of Paris, can be seen across the city on schools and government buildings. This Latin phrase is featured on the official seal of the city underneath a depiction of a river sailboat. It translates to “Tossed by the waves [or storm-tossed] but does not sink.”

Every time I see this motto, I am reminded of God’s steadfast love and covenant of peace. It reminds me of His compassion and intentionality. It reminds me of God’s call to Paris and how He confirmed His will to me in such unexpected ways.

Years ago, during my last semester of college, I sat next to a very shy girl in my “Perspectives on World History” class. I got to know her over time and we usually had a small conversation before or after class. I’d ask her questions and often got to share my faith, including quick testimonies of what God has done, usually from that week. She was a daughter of Catholic Vietnamese immigrants, raised in Texas—1 in a million I’d guess. She had largely felt like a complete outsider all her life. I didn’t realize at the time how much our little conversations meant to her until later. She was just beginning to pursue God on her own and was looking to grow in faith.

Several weeks into the semester, she very shyly asked if I’d be willing to share the extended version of my testimony of God’s radical provision and power on display when He led me to go to Australia by faith. Plans failed, my prospective hosts bailed, and I was left with nowhere to go and no place to stay at midnight in Melbourne, Australia.

Then, God moved mountains and made a way where there seemed to be no way to faith-filled people, places to stay, and local Australian friends who showed me all over SE Australia, from Melbourne to Sydney to Melbourne again to Sydney again and beyond. It was awesome. God led every step of the way.

God even reminded me of His covenantal faithfulness before I even touched down in the Land Down Under, on the plane. As I submitted all my thoughts, uncertainties, and prayers to God, I pulled up my clear plastic pen from my notebook. As I did, the concentrated sunlight shined perfectly through my window-seat window and through my plastic pen to form a rainbow on my notebook page in the distinct shape of a key. It blew my mind. If I shifted the position of my hand or the pen itself, the key shape would morph and the rainbow would disappear.

I had never shared that rainbow key experience with anyone until I sensed the Lord led me to bring it up to this shy girl who wanted to hear all the details of my adventures with the Lord in Australia.

A week or so later, that same girl asked permission to share how God inspired her through my testimony. I was grateful to God and humbled. I made sure to share that I’d be so happy to hear how God inspired her and we met up again in the cafeteria. It turned out that while I shared my Australia testimony, the Lord highlighted four specific things to her:

* The Rainbow

* The Key

* God’s Kindness

* The Anchor (on my nautical bracelet)

She very timidly shared these four things with me, before sharing that she took these things to God in prayer and sought to find where in the Bible these four things converge. I was blown away by her intentionality and so curious. Where could you find a rainbow, key, God’s kindness, and an anchor in one place?

While we talked, I considered Noah’s ark and the rainbow that followed. No anchor specifically mentioned. Could there have been one, maybe. Surely, God’s kindness was on display to Noah and his family. Meanwhile, His righteous judgement against sin was carried out globally.

I contemplated of the hope we have in Christ, like an anchor to our souls, from Hebrews 18:16-20:

“…we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Amen to that, but about the key and the rainbow?

Where could these things possibly be found together in Scripture: rainbow, key, kindness, and anchor?

I was bamboozled until she said, “I found some verses in the Bible that mentioned some of these things, then I found a passage with all four. Would it be if ok if I shared it with you?” she apprehensively asked me.

“Absolutely yes! Please share!” I responded.

She pulled up Isaiah 54:10-12 (NIV) and read.

10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed,yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli.12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.

She continued: “See verse 10. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet God’s unfailing love will not be shaken and His covenant of peace won’t be removed. There’s the anchor!” In awe, we discussed how God’s unfailing love and covenant of peace are like an anchor that won’t be shaken or removed!

“See the end of verse 10,” she said, “it continues, ‘says the Lord, who has compassion on you.’ There’s God’s kindness!” That was clear.

“I’m not so sure about the how the beginning of verse 11 applies to you, but I see the rainbow and key in verse 11 and 12.”

11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli.12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.

She continued: “As I prayed, I considered what keys are used for: unlocking and opening things, like doors or gates. Verse 12 mentions these “gates of sparkling jewels.” Also, as I prayed, I feel like God showed me how your words and testimonies have been like a key that God has used to unlock and open up things in my heart and in my faith. You said to me that I was ‘a light.’ No one has ever said something like that to me. I think that God has given you a key to unlock and open up people’s hearts, to encourage them and to share God’s love for them.”

I was dumbfounded in awe. Little did I know what the Lord had done, nor how much fruit had come from the little seeds of faith planted every day in our small, seemingly insignificant conversations. They were not insignificant to this daughter of the King.

Within the next few days, the Lord convicted me to write this passage on my heart through another passage I read upon waking up. I love Proverbs 3:5-6, but it was as though I read Proverbs 3:3-4 for the first time. As though a response to God’s steadfast love mentioned in Isaiah 54:10, Proverbs 3:3-4 says:

3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

That was all the motivation I needed to internalize Isaiah 54:10-12 and recognize the Lord’s confirmation that this passage is one I’m not meant to forget.

As though all of this wasn’t encouraging enough already, my shy friend followed up with me a week or two after with a new revelation. She had prayed to better understand the meaning of the phrase “Afflicted city, lashed by storms” mentioned in Isaiah 54:11. The Lord reminded her that when I first shared my Australia testimony to her, I had mentioned that the Lord was clearly directing me to Paris and had convicted me to commit to praying for Paris daily. In her research she discovered the motto of the city of Paris:

Fuctuat Nec Mergitur.

Paris, a city “Tossed by the waves but does not sink.”

Paris, “Afflicted city, lashed by storms,” or storm-tossed, but does not sink by God’s grace.

Bingo! The puzzle was finally complete.

Not only is Isaiah 54:10-12 a powerful reminder of God’s steadfast love, covenant of peace, compassion, and commitment to His people and to Jerusalem, but also a potent personal reminder of God’s steadfast love, covenant of peace, compassion, and commitment to me, to others, and to Paris. I am in awe of the Lord’s love and intentionality.

Little does the city of Paris know that its motto is derived from the Bible, Isaiah 54:11. Little does Paris know that it remains upheld by the grace of God.

Our God’s steadfast love, covenant of peace, compassion, and intentionality are UNMATCHED. Our God is the one true, living God, our Father—the only God who to speaks to His children. “Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Proverbs 30:5). Our God is faithful to bring His word to fruition and He is actively working in us, through us and others, and in our midst to accomplish His will. Hallelujah!

Thanks for keeping up with LIFE ON MISSION with Tanner Klein. I pray that the Lord will bless and encourage all who read and listen to this. If you have been blessed by this post or another, feel free to share the link with a friend. May God bless you!