Light and Truth thru the Fog of Life
“Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver, having deceived even Paul, or else some extraordinary thing happens to someone who holds on to the love of God when the odds are totally against him. Logic is silenced in the face of each of these things which come against him. Only one thing can account for it— the love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time.” Oswald Chambers, ‘Utmost for His Highest.”
What an awesome reminder Oswald Chambers shares in the close of his devotional for May 19. It just touched my heart. As I considered it this morning I opened my digital Bible this morning, and it was where I had closed it; the end of Psalm 42 and the beginning of Psalm 43 “Send Out Your Light and Your Truth.”
Now, this morning was tough. Sometimes there is a cloud that just makes it hard for me to think, but I knew that these things were not coincidental and I wanted to share my thoughts but I could not find the words. So, I flipped through some old notes I had and prayed for clarity, and I came to Proverbs 2. I read verses 1-15 and prayed as I read and the fog began to lift.
Proverbs 2:1-15
I read the first 6 verses and was humbled by the Word and the promises. I read on through verse 15 and saw How the Father set those who cherished walking in the light and truth from those who preferred the darkness.
1 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.
That brought me back to Psalms 43, “Send out Your Light and Truth,” and I read it again.
Psalms 43 – Send Out Your Light and Your Truth
I read this Psalm and just considered the struggles that are part of life. We have so much, but so often we allow the small and temporary struggles to control our mood and our view of things around us, but even in the midst of that the Psalmist seemed to go back and forth on the foolishness of his concern and realized in the end that God was the answer.
Psalms 43 (ESV)
1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
It is like in verse two for a moment the writer is angry with God, but by verse three he has turned his eyes back to God.
I read this and think about all the times when faced with struggles the adversary is filling my heart with doubt, and the Holy Spirit is reminding me of the light and truth of God’s Word. The peace that rests in holding on to Him.
I remembered that the Holy Spirit is in me always to give me strength to stand and the help to understand the wonders of God’s Word.
Romans 8:26-27
All those times that I struggle to understand He helps me and intercedes for me when I cannot find the words. I cannot help but think of Romans 8:26-27.
Romans 8:26-27 (ESV) 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
What a wonderful gift we have in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
John 16:13
What a miraculous gift Jesus gave us.
John 16:13 (ESV) 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
What an awesome God we serve. He fills our heart with the light and truth of His counsel through the Holy Spirit.
Closing
I think about the things that run through my mind when I am struggling with some issue or circumstance, and I cannot help but think of Saul and David, the first two chosen Kings of Israel, and how they approached adversity and their sin.
Saul seemed to mess up and try to fix things by his means. If he disobeyed God, he would make excuses. David simply cried out to God and pleaded for forgiveness. I know this oversimplifies
this topic, but it helps me keep things in perspective.
Now because of Jesus and His obedience, I have the gift of the Holy Spirit to intercede when I cannot find the words when my mind is mush, and to say I am thankful for this is such an understatement. I give thanks for the light and truth of God’s Word!
Prayer
Father, thank you for the Holy Spirit and the guidance He gives me even when I am unaware. Thank you, Father, for giving me the strength to hold on to you when the logic of the world tells me I am crazy. Without you, I would be lost and crazy.
Praise be to you, in Jesus name, Amen!
