“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.” (Isaiah 42:16)
Back when I was doing triathlons, I would often be up before the sun to go on a run. Running in the dark was scary. I always worried about falling because of cracks or debris in the road – especially when the gum ball trees bloomed. So, I bought one of my most valuable (and glamorous) training tools – a head lamp.
Head lamps are great levelers. There is no one that can make a head lamp look cool. Actually, I take that back. There is one person that can make it look cool, and that is the person using it to illuminate a gaping hole in the head of a fellow runner who tripped over something they couldn’t see in the dark. Yep. That person makes a head lamp look cool.
I remember the first time I ran with my illuminated training partner. I felt secure, and I noticed something interesting: The light was of the most benefit when focused not on the horizon, but on the ground two or three feet in front of me. When the light was focused on the horizon, my vision was distorted. I couldn’t see clearly the path in front of me nor could I make out what lay ahead. Everything was fuzzy.
Just like my head lamp, we are of the most benefit to Christ when we spend our time focused on what is directly in front of us. When we try to see where He’s taking us or what’s around the corner, we can miss the things He wants us to see today, or have trouble discerning the short-term steps He’s calling us to take. God wants us to trust Him moment-by-moment, step-by-step, day-by-day.
The Israelites spent more years than I’m sure they care to remember learning that very lesson. Just as God led them with the pillar of fire at night, He leads us today, not with just a light, but with THE Light: Jesus.
God knows how dark our lives can seem at times. But rest assured that if you have trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are never without the Light, for His Word says, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
King David knew the secret to brightening up the dark places when he penned these words: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).
If your world seems bleak or your hope seems lost, grab His Word and trust that He will light your path.