Isaiah 41:13; 42:16: "For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, "Do not fear; I will help you" . . . . I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them."
When we come to the foundational reality of our life experience, we must recognize that only God Almighty can be our Deliverer and Comforter during the perilous times of life. He has promised to His redeemed that He will take hold of their right hand and help them through life's journey. And He is able and willing to accomplish truly miraculous things in the life of the believer, much like planting trees in an arid desert (see 41:19); He does this so that through His supernatural intervention, people will "see and know and consider and understand that the hand of the LORD has done this" (41:20).
Like a mighty warrior marching out to battle is our Lord breaking forth in this sinful world to bring victory to the redeemed. The Lord already has triumphed over sin and death through his resurrection, and now He offers us the spoils of victory: eternal life and abundant life during our remaining days on this earth (John 17:3; 10:10). And though we are spiritually blind from our sin, God in His amazing grace has promised to lead us through unfamiliar but smooth, light-filled paths that will bring us salvation from our perilous condition here on earth.
From these passages, we must be reassured that God genuinely is interested in us and longs to cultivate an intimate relationship with us. He is willing to walk alongside us through our lives and minister to us in those difficult times that we will encounter. He then has promised to guide us from this despicable, sin-infested existence into the blessedness of His eternal presence. This is love at its finest, and this is the promise to which we can hold for protection against hopelessness (see I Thessalonians 5:8).
The only stipulation that we find in the Isaiah passage is that we not forsake our allegiance to the Lord for the lifeless idols that we are tempted to worship instead of God. We are warned in Scripture that idols are lifeless, worthless substitutes that do not help us; in fact, they only bring confusion and lack of blessing to those who would pay homage to them. In the end, those who would trust in idols over the Sovereign Lord will be "turned back in utter shame" (42:17). For those who would choose philosophies, objects, or persons as objects of worship over God will lose the above mentioned promise of protection and deliverance by God.
Let us destroy the idols of which we might be tempted to worship . . . thus falling away from our exclusive devotion to the Lord; let us recommit ourselves to our sole allegiance to the Lord Almighty and hope in His promises to lead us into the glory of His presence.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment