Two Indians who from a distance had been watching a lighthouse being
constructed over a period of time. When the thing was finally completed,
they came over to see it on its grand opening. It was all set up with the
lights and the bell and the horn; but the day it was due to open, the worst
fog of all fogs came in. One Indian said to the other, “Light shine, bell
ring, horn blow, but fog come in just the same.”
“We’ve never had more lights shining, and bells ringing, and horns
blowing in the church than we have today. We’ve never had more fog.”
Isaiah 50:1-3
ILLUSTRATION: “who moved”
It reminds me of the story of the old couple following in a car behind the
car of a young couple sitting very close together. The two old people are
about as far apart on the front seat of the car as they can get, and she
muses, “Remember, when we were young like that. I miss those days
when we sat so close together.”
The old man simply grunts a two word reply: “Who moved?”
Psalms 70:1
Psalms 109:26-27
Psalms 70:5
Psalms 40:17
What do we do when the lights go out in our world? It’s simple:
Don’t trust yourself; trust the Lord.
In this case, God didn’t move away from Israel; Israel moved away from
God and faces Babylonian captivity as a result. Even so, God has not
abandoned His people.
He has not divorced her, and that’s what those who feared the Lord in
ancient Israel could count on. They could depend on God’s unfailing love,
and that’s what we can count on today, those of us who fear and obey
the Lord.
When the lights go out, we can and we must…
Rely on His unfailing love.
The book of Hebrews in the New Testament was written to a group of
people facing severe persecution because of their faith. But in the midst
of the darkness, the author of Hebrews reminds them of what God had
said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
God will never leave us no matter what, and He will never stop loving us.
Depend on that love, and it will get you through the darkest times.
Rely on His unlimited power.
The honeymoon with God never ends
He is infinite in power and wisdom and creativity and love.
And so he has no trouble sustaining a honeymoon level of intensity;
He can foresee all the future quirks of our personality and has decided he
will keep what’s good for us and change what isn’t;
He will always be as handsome as he ever was, and will see to it that we
get more and more beautiful forever; and
He is infinitely creative to think of new things to do together so that there
will be no boredom for the next trillion ages of millenniums.”
Rely on His obedient Servant, Jesus Christ.
He learned how to help the weary, because He Himself was weary.
He learned how to minister to those in pain, because He Himself
experienced pain.
He learned how to comfort those who have been shamed, because He
Himself was shamed.
Hebrews 2:17-18
Hebrews 4:15-16
Hebrews 5:8-9
God help me!