Monday, June 25, 2012

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?




2 comments:

  1. God sighting alert:  Last night as we were chatting, I had a very strong sense of this very concept.  It was as if God was reminding me that He does not light the entire path ahead of us, but rather each step at a time.  Any more than a step or two ahead would not require faith.  He does us no favors when our faith is not encouraged to grow.  In fact,   while you were sharing some of your challenges, I saw this picture of you walking on a grassy path with walking stones to mark the way.  Only one in front of you was lit.  I am not sure if you had already wrote this but I believe that is a confirmation that God is saying, "Yes! You got it....."

    May I also say that sometimes our "flashlight" is a person who has walked the same path ahead of us. Thanks for sharing your path experience with me so together we can try to avoid the gravel that might trip us up!

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  2. I kept trying to reply from my phone but apparently Disqus does not like my phone or vice versa. 

    First, love the name Rinkshuttler. I miss seeing all our hockey friends during the off season. :(

    I did write this the Friday before it posted and we talked. But then the idea kept coming up, in church, in a meeting, with you. It appears God was making a point. I was thinking now though that it is probably a really good thing I don't see the whole path because if I knew what challenges and triumphs lay ahead I might get scared. I can take one step at a time but the idea of a marathon is scary. 

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