October 29, 2019 Our Daily Bread Devotional : Topic – A Road Not Traveled
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them.
Bible in a Year:
Today’s ScriptureIsaiah 42:10–17 (NIV)
Insight
In Isaiah 42:1–9, God speaks of “my servant,” the first of four prophecies in Isaiah (42:1–9; 49:1–13; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12) known as the “Servant Songs.” The servant first refers to the nation Israel (Isaiah 41:8; 49:3) and also prophetically to Jesus (Matthew 12:17–20). After telling us of the servant’s mission and compassion (Isaiah 42:1–9), the prophet gives us “a new song” (v. 10), inviting us to “rejoice . . . [and] give glory to the Lord” (vv. 11–12) for His salvation.
People ask me if I have a five-year plan. How can I plan five years “down the road” on a road I’ve never traveled?
I think back to the 1960s when I was a minister to students at Stanford University. I’d been a physical education major in college and had a lot of fun, but I left no record of being a scholar. I felt wholly inadequate in my new position. Most days I wandered around the campus, a blind man groping in the darkness, asking God to show me what to do. One day a student “out of the blue” asked me to lead a Bible study in his fraternity. It was a beginning.
God doesn’t stand at a juncture and point the way: He’s a guide, not a signpost. He walks with us, leading us down paths we never envisioned. All we have to do is walk alongside Him.
The path won’t be easy; there’ll be “rough places” along the way. But God has promised that He will “turn the darkness into light” and “will not forsake” us (Isaiah 42:16). He’ll be with us all the way.
Paul said that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). We can scheme and envision, but our Lord’s imagination far transcends our plans. We must hold them loosely and see what God has in mind.
Reflect & Pray
In what ways has God turned your darkness into light? What have you found to be your greatest joy as you walk with Him?
Jesus, I thank You that You have plans for me far beyond my imagination. Help me follow Your lead.