Isaiah - Whose Light?

Who among you fears the Lord

    and obeys the word of his servant? 

Let the one who walks in the dark,

    who has no light, 

trust in the name of the Lord

    and rely on their God.

But now, all you who light fires

    and provide yourselves with flaming torches, 

go, walk in the light of your fires 

    and of the torches you have set ablaze.

This is what you shall receive from my hand: 

    You will lie down in torment.

           (Isaiah 50 : 10, 11)

Have you ever used your cell phone as a flashlight? I have and let me tell you it does not give off much light, even with the flashlight app. (Yes, there is such a thing.) It is enough light to get you to the next step but that's it. It doesn't feel very reliable, even as the step in front of me is illuminated. I would much rather have a large flashlight, you know those really big black ones that light up a whole room.

But God doesn't give us a big flashlight lamp beneath our feet. He gives us a small sliver of light, enough to take another step but not enough to see a few feet in front of us or even the possible dangers around us. We can imagine them there waiting for us in the dark or we see a flicker of movement off to our side. Sometimes we walk on the trail because it is all we have to inform us sometimes we know our destination, we know where God is taking us but we don't know what path the Lord will lead us down.

Let the one who walks in the dark,
    who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on their God.

I don't like to walk in the dark. Not if I can't see the path before me. I'm not scared of the dark, I am fine sitting on the beach late at night listening to the waves. But I am not going to walk into the water. I like to know where I am going. But God doesn't seem interested in my getting to my destination as much as he is desiring me trust him on the way.

But sometimes we don't. Sometimes we jump off the path, run to Target, grab the biggest flashlight we can find, maybe even some friends to join us on the hike, and then, only with all of our supplies in hand do we try to return to the trail God had laid before us.

But now, all you who light fires
    and provide yourselves with flaming torches,
go, walk in the light of your fires
    and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:
    You will lie down in torment.

Ouch. That one stings.

Do I do this? Do I create my own light in order to see what is meant to be unseen by me? Do I provide for myself instead of waiting and trusting God to provide? Do I walk in a false light created by me?

Do I trust God or not?

Because trust doesn't count unless you are willing to fall backward into His arms.

(Or at least that is what we all learned at youth group camp.)

Are you having trouble trusting God?