I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16b
Last year, I saw God move time and time again when I was pressed on all sides. There were decisions that had to be made that would alter the rest of my life. I needed to end some things that had been in place for nearly thirty years but I couldn’t discern how to move toward closure. Every course of action I conceived promised only conflict and mis-judgement. Have you been in this situation? You know you need to do something but when you picture possible pathways, you know each one will take you to a bad place. If you play it safe and do nothing, the outcome will be even worse.
Today’s scripture became so real to me. I realized that the way forward was to admit that I was blind to the path. “Father, I don’t know what I’m doing here. I don’t see how this is going to turn out well. I am asking You to fulfill this promise ~ to go ahead of me and alter the path.” And God did. He made a way. He cast light on what was dark. An idea would present itself on the spot, enabling me to move forward with a difficult discussion. God’s ideas were not only customized for me, they were tailor made for the other people involved too. They were customized down to the minutest detail. I will tell you that what I feared rarely came to pass. God’s ways of escape could never have been discovered on my own as viable options.
God promises to lead the blind but there are different kinds of blindness. There is physical blindness where the eyes are impaired to see. There is a mental blindness due to cognitive impairment. But this promise is for those who know, and acknowledge, spiritual blindness. I came to understand it at the point of salvation, at the foot of the cross.
What I thought was right, was wrong. What I considered a treasure was worth nothing. What I thought I deserved, was misguided. What was bitter in my mouth, was really sweet. What was sweet and desirable should have been bitter. Spiritual blindness was an incurable condition without Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit. There was no physical cure and no human cure. No amount of education would correct it. No input from self-help gurus could affect it for the good. Spiritual blindness needed a spiritual cure. What became dark when Adam sinned was remedied when the last Adam came as the Light of the world.
Salvation began at the cross when I came as a blind beggar. Today, I can’t see the Jesus-path without help from the Word and the Spirit who gives light. For whatever awaits me today (and it doesn’t need to be a desperate situation for my need to be desperate), I come to God with an admission of spiritual blindness. It is for me, in this posture of poverty, that the promise was written.
Each day, each moment, breath into my darkened understanding so that my steps are in the Light. Amen
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