Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Beware Of Trying To Turn The Light On When God Has Turned It Off

Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.
Isaiah 50:10, 11 (emphasis added)

2 comments:

Mel said...

I am really curious as to what caused you to post this verse. It's excellent food for thought, I'm glad you posted it.

pilgriminconflict said...

Hi Mel,

As I was reading through my Bible yesterday morning, I just felt like this verse stopped me in my tracks. It felt weighty. This happens to me often when I read the Bible but not as often as it should as it's so easy for us to just glance over what we read without thinking about why God makes certain statements and what that means for our lives. Over and over again in Isaiah (and Jeremiah), God's charge to His people in their captivity is to let Him work for them rather than to take matters into their own hands. And this to me is just another reminder that He wants to be glorified as the grace Giver when we wait for Him to act for us rather than ourselves doing in the moment what we think is best for us.

So what should I do instead of trying to turn on the light so that I can see when it feels like darkness all around me? Take hold of the hand of the One who is the light of the world (John 8:12) and hold on as tightly as I can. He's often not the light I'm looking for, but He's the light that's always on and the only light I need.

Grace,
Chris