Thoughts on Isaiah 42:16

Isaiah 42:16:  And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known:  I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.  These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.”

Where should we begin with this verse?  It holds such hope for any of us who have lost track of the number times we have messed up.  It is one of those hidden pieces of wisdom, seemingly lost among a prophet’s writings.  I’ve rarely ever heard anyone mention it.  For me, it has been a pivotal part of my faith, even undeterred by my many doubts and errors. In this verse God promises what I cannot- to make crooked things straight.  To be blind, even spiritually, is to be void of concrete direction, absent of knowledge of when the darkness will become light.  Trying to figure out when the crooked things will be straightened can be quite daunting.  After all, if I can’t see where I’m going, how will I know when I’m at the place I should arrive at?

Yet, if I allow Him, God will lead me. And not just down the beaten path I have previously traveled.  No, He leads me in places I have not known so I can get to places I have never been- places I have always wanted to go (whether I was cognizant of it or not,) and He always wanted to take me.

At one time, I gave up searching and was quite blind until my heart was awakened and granted the vision to see what was ahead, even if a million steps ahead.  This destination was days beyond what my patience said it would travel with me.  So, things became crooked, not only among my steps but in my heart and life. My conversations with God became verbal slugfests on my part, without were fightings and within were fears.  Frustrations were more prevalent than any peace I had once known.  My memories, both good and bad, regularly outweighed any pleasantry I awakened with or experienced each day for quite some time.

The miracles I so longed for, the deliverance I desperately needed, grew farther and farther away, even as they increased in importance.  I would often declare to God, “Just when will You do these things? When will You rid my life of this darkness and make the crooked things straight?”  The shadows of doubt loomed much larger than my faith.  Time never ceased its rapid pace, and I lost control of the months.  My nightmare seemingly became larger in scope and consequence.

However, as I let Him lead me in paths I had not known, I found my blindess dissipating before I even expected it to.  For God to take me to where He knew I needed to be via a route I had never been or even considered was quite hard, even exasperating at times, but also quite meaningful.  My honesty was always present and my hopes, significantly based on this verse, sometimes hid behind the bitterness of past disappointments and disillusions, were still never very far away.

I found the key to quieting my questions and doubts concerning the promises in this verse to be the last phrase:  “I will not forsake them.”  I could be forsaken by others I cared about or who once cared for me, but never by the Lord. The choice for abandonment would be mine alone. Yet, even at the darkest moments, when all seemed lost, I was reminded He had not lost sight of me, and the crooked things were being made straight, and He would never forsake me but show me the path of life and cause me to walk in it- both now and forever.