“I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places” (Isa. 45:2, 3).
This will be true for us in this New Year. Surely the Lord will go before us. True, we may face crooked places (and people), but the Lord will straighten them up as we follow Him. We may also confront many obstacles, like the gates of brass, threatening to halt our spiritual progress; but the Lord Himself will break in pieces such gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron.
“Treasures of darkness” – There may be dark patches in our path. But the Lord has promised to give us many precious souls in darkness, as special treasures this year.
“Hidden riches of secret places” – Here the ‘secret places’ speaks of the secret chamber of prayer life – dwelling in ‘the secret place of the Most High’ (Psa 91: 1). There are hidden riches for those who have a deep prayer life.
Like the people of Israel, we are in a wilderness journey, but the Lord Himself promises that he shall go before us. “My presence shall go with (before) thee and I will give thee rest” (Exo. 33: 14). His presence shall go with us till we reach our eternal rest.
The Lord did not say, “My presence shall abide with you” but, “My presence shall go with you,” God’s presence has a ‘go’ in it. It will make you ‘go’ forward; it will make you an ongoing vibrant Christian. The gospel has a ‘go’ in it. “Go ye therefore… and teach all nations …Lo, I am with you alway” (Matt. 28: 19, 20); “The Lord shall fight for you… go forward” (Exo. 14: 14, 15). In this New Year, the Lord wants to fight all our battles, but on the condition we keep going forward.
We know that our future is going to be blessed because our Lord holds our future. He certainly has great plans for us. We may not know the path we may have to traverse this year, but we know Who goes before us, and that makes all the difference.
“The Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isa. 58: 11).
“I have a Guide who never falters,
And when He leads I cannot stray,
For step by step He goes before me,
And marks my path; He knows the way.“
– Taken from Morning Manna – Thoughts for Daily Devotion
No comments:
Post a Comment