Blessed Assurance

Isaiah 42:16

"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."

And so, when I find myself groping blindly along ways I don't know, along unfamiliar paths, I can rest assured that He will guide me. What a word of promise to hang onto.

On one hand, it's a little frightening to receive a verse like this. It's not as though I haven't traveled along many unknown and unfamiliar paths, it's just that I can't help but wonder if things are going to be such that I will need this verse and the truths it teaches to hang onto to. Is God preparing me for even more unfamiliar paths by showing me these truths? 

Just when I start to permit my thoughts to travel down that foreboding trail, God reminds me that He has not given me a spirit of fear. God is not the author of anything grounded in fear. This, then, is a reminder that in the seeming darkness through which I have traveled, God has been with me. He has been my guide. It is He who has turned the darkness into light and He has never forsaken me, nor will He. 

A promise for the past and a promise for the future. A reminder that even if I encounter strange, unknown paths where I am seemingly blind, I have no reason to fear. Why should I fear when God almighty has promised to be my guide, to smoothen the rough places for me, to shed light on the path and that He will never forsake me. 

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

Simply Breathtaking

"We can know that God has a mighty plan and that through His mighty plan God will look breathtaking." ... Jon Lyndon

A one sentence excerpt from Sunday's sermon, but what a loaded statement. It's a nice one to chew on when life seems to be dealing you a hand you would love to dispose of. The first part alone is powerful enough on it's own. "We can know that God has a mighty plan ..." Resting on the knowledge of truth, acknowledging that God has a plan ... not only a plan but a mighty plan. That alone can turn my world on it's axis as I acknowledge that, no, bad stuff doesn't just happen so suck it up, but rather, all things in my life are woven into God's mighty plan. Things do not just happen by chance. Even the seemingly horrible stuff which I can't begin to imagine as part of God's plan, as something He would send my way, is part of His mighty plan. 

Does that get your attention like it got mine? Yes, all the bad stuff is also part of His mighty plan. Now, before you take up stones and come looking for me, allow me a little bit of latitude as I explain. While it may an entirely true and trustworthy statement to say that there are things which occur in my life which God did not design for my life, it is equally true to say that nothing gets through to me without God's permission. What is permitted by God is also used by God to work to good in my life.

The real clincher in that statement, for me, was the last part, "through His mighty plan God will look breathtaking". God is to be glorified, it is His will, it is His desire. When the Almighty desires something, nothing stands in His way. God is going to look breathtaking. That's His plan. My life being part of His plan ensures that what I experience will not rob God of looking breathtaking. Can't get better insurance than that!

And Just When

Just when I feel like yelling at God, at throwing a nice tantrum and telling Him all this isn't fair, just then the Apostle Paul speaks to me from beyond the pale. No no, don't start thinking I'm channeling or communicating with the departed, only reading the written Word. 

1 Corinthians 15:1, "Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand." Thank you very much, but I didn't want a reminder! I wanted to feel sorry for myself and needed someone else to blame for it. No, Paul wants to remind me of the gospel he preached, which I received and on which I have taken my stand. 

It's good to get those reminders. Good to have my attention drawn back to the gospel, the good news, of Jesus Christ. To be reminded that is on this that I have taken my stand. I've planted my feet on the good news of Jesus and chosen to stand there. One of the luxuries of that stand is that I'm not bound by self-pity anymore. Yes, that's a luxury! I don't have to go through the misery, the despair, the pain of a pity party. Sure, the enemy would be more than happy to drag me back there. Sure, he likes to bill it as a "right", as something I'm "entitled" to. He even stoops so low as to whisper, quite convincingly, that God has big shoulders and won't be offended by my lashing out and yelling at Him. 

While that may well be true, as a father I think I can confidently say, He takes much more pleasure in me not throwing a tantrum and walking victoriously. So while God can handle me being angry at Him, He and I are both much happier if I choose not to. 

It's good to be reminded of the things I've chosen as my foundation. Something about the word 'foundation' that kind of makes me think I really need to stand there. Wandering back and forth with the slightest wind really doesn't lend itself to the whole concept of foundation. I guess I best climb back up on that Rock!

(Which reminds me of an image God gave me Sunday morning. It was of His hand being beneath me, shielding every step from the surface below. It was as if He was saying, "you don't need to concern yourself about the condition of the path, just keep stepping in My hand and you'll be just fine.")