78, Paths, Light, Straight Things
Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not: I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
The Lord is with us and He will not leave us alone to cope by ourselves. He promises to lead us on right paths, make darkness light, and make crooked things straight. We often can’t see the path, often find ourselves in darkness, and often seem to deal with crooked things. Fear not, for I am with you, says the Lord, I will make the path known, make darkness light and crooked things straight.
We can’t find the best path to take and sometimes we don’t even know where the path is. The Lord makes many promises to put us on the best path of life, and He will keep us there. “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” We see several paths in front of us and don’t know which one to take; but the Lord promises to lead on a path we did not even know about. How often God surprises us with a way to go that we would never have thought of before. Admit it: we do not know the way, but Jesus is the Way. He will never take us down a bad path.
We find ourselves groping in the darkness and discovering that we are lost. This is always true, but at certain times we sense an overwhelming darkness more than at other times. God gives light for the path so we can take the next step by faith in the faithful God. But more than giving light, He changes the darkness into light, so that we walk in the light as He is in the light. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” We don’t have to grope our way, but we follow the light.
God writes straight on crooked lines. Our lives are crooked lines, wandering this way and that without clear direction. We make the roads crooked, twisted, steep, muddy, rutted and slippery. But the Lord is able to write straight on our twisted and messed up lives. He makes our lives straight, smooth, and full of light. Taking hold of this promise we are able to give the Lord our pathless, darkened, crooked, and messed up lives and let Him sort it out. He knows the right way, for He is the Way.