Finding Hope: Our Light

Jim KallamBy Jim Kallam4 Minutes

We’re gonna take one last look at the book of Isaiah. But I want to encourage you to read it on your own. It’s a great book to read through. It’s God’s message through His servant Isaiah to us today as it was thousands of years ago to His people in Israel.

A question for you: who likes to be in control? Well the answer I think is we all love to be in control. I always find it curious with moms and dads and young children how they think they can control the universe of their kids. As kids grow up, you realize that it really was kind of an illusion that we’re in control. But we all want to be in control. That’s what I think makes it so difficult sometimes yielding control to anybody else. But what does it look like to yield control to God?

Isaiah has some fascinating verses in chapter 50. He says this, “Who among you fears the Lord?” That’s a great question by the way. I hope we do fear Him. “And who obeys the voice of His servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.” This is about surrendering control – he who walks in darkness. I’ll be honest with you. I don’t like darkness. I can admit this to you because you’re just gonna do what you will with it, but I’m scared of the dark; that’s always been true.

The first thing I want to do when I get into darkness is control the situation by turning on the light because somehow it makes me feel like I’m in control. Well, God goes on to say this: “To trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Behold all you who kindles a fire, who equips yourselves with burning torches, walk by the light of your fire and by the torches you have kindled and you’ll have this from My hand: you’ll lie down in torment.” See, God uses the contrast of light and darkness to say this: if we’ll trust Him even in the darkness, He’ll take control.

He’s gonna watch over us. But the idea of lighting your own fires is the idea that ‘I don’t trust you God so I’ll figure out a way to be in control. Hence, I’ll light my fire so I can see my way and I’ll take control.’ God doesn’t want us to take control by turning on the lights. God longs for us to trust Him so that, even when I’m in the darkness – even when life doesn’t make sense – even when God’s ways don’t make sense… I’ll trust.

Maybe with what you’re going through right now, God’s ways don’t make a lot of sense to you. Maybe if you were in charge, you would do it differently. But can we trust a loving, sovereign God and His plans for our lives? That’s what Isaiah’s challenge is to us from Isaiah 50 – to stay in the darkness and to trust in a God who will never let us down.

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