IF THE LIGHT GOES OUT
“Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” Isaiah 50:10, 11
Is it possible that a person might fear the Lord, be obedient, and still experience a time when he walks in spiritual darkness? Do dedicated and committed Christians go through such spiritual struggles? In the verses that immediately precede our text, Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). Jesus endured the greatest torture and humiliation for us. He suffered the distress of human betrayal and disappointment. He went through unimaginable pain and physical anguish. He experienced the spiritual separation and darkness brought on by taking our sins upon His own body. None of the mistreatment experienced by our Savior was due to His sin or rebellion, yet He suffered a horrific period of darkness.
After Isaiah documented some of the torture Christ would endure on our behalf, he started our text, “Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light?” It is possible that faithful servants of God will go through times when it seems they are without clear direction, when their path has grown dark, and it seems that God is nowhere to be found. What advice does Isaiah give us for such a period in our lives? The Word of God is clear, “let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.” We are counseled to keep trusting in the Lord and keep looking to Him.
He then says, “Behold, all ye that kindle a fire…walk in the light of your fire…ye shall lie down in sorrow.” The prophet warns us, in times of darkness, not to kindle our own fire. The natural tendency when God does not seem to be working or answering is to create our own light. This verse is so clear. God will not bless it.
When it seems that our way is dark, keep trusting and obeying, because God will come through.