Who We Are

In the sometimes bewildering events of each week it is easy to be drawn into the negative.  Fires, violence, wars, rumors of wars, disunity with our elected leadership (I could go on) all draw us into a negative mindset that is dark and defeating.   Isaiah had similar things happening in his world around 700 B.C.  His book of prophesy, telling us what the Lord said, is very specific about one thing ... who we are.

Most of us read Scripture to find a verse of help through our daily journey.  But we often forget that one purpose of the Bible is to give us a clear picture of who we are and our interaction with a holy God.  Here are Isaiah's words from 9:2 ... "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.

For those who live in a land of deep darkness a light will shine."  These words describe the people of Isaiah's time as they wait to see if Assyria's Tiglath-Pileser will become powerful enough to invade.  And these words describe us as we watch our world and wonder what will come of us.

Here is the wisdom and hope of Isaiah's words.  We do walk in darkness, mostly by choice.  We allow the negative events and nasty politics to occupy our thoughts and conversations.  We submit to the darkness of "affluenza" as we buy into the consumer mentality.  We allow prejudice to cloud our view of others, seeing ourselves as better.  We also live in a land of deep darkness, mostly by geography.  Much that happens in our land is beyond our control.  This is who we are when we allow the negative to lead us.  We raise our noses above the water as we swim through the rivers of circumstance and wonder, "What do we do?"  Glad you asked!

Isaiah reminds us to not be brought down by our choices or our circumstances.  He encourages us to open our eyes and see the great light we have been given by the advent and presence of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  That wonderful choice is before us right now!  And when we see this light we are given a new view of our surroundings.  We are able to see paths that are good.  We can see and follow those paths that move toward God who has revealed them in His Word.  There is an old Petra song that says, "there is a road that leads to life, the few that find it never die."  The song describes the road as a rocky struggle at times, just like the road God has laid out for us.  But His road leads us out of darkness, out of the land of deep darkness and toward the light that illumines, reveals, warms and heals.  For unto those who are His a light has come ... and that light is Jesus ... the way, the truth and the life.  Randy