Words of Wisdom #277: Why Can Life Seem So Dark and Gloomy?

Here I am with the children the Lord has given me to be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts who dwells on Mount Zion. When they say to you, “Consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people consult their God? [Should they consult] the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the  testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them. They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness. Isaiah 8:18-22 (HCSB)

In our lives we often lose our focus on the important issues of life and we lose the light that lights the path in our life. Darkness reigns supreme because we no longer can understand what is happening to us and to our loved ones. That darkness turns to distress and our path becomes nothing but an uncertain, gloomy way to travel. When that happens many of us feel helpless and we attack anyone we can blame for our feelings of despair and desperation, even God! Some people will consult even the “dead” spirits in the occult world for answers, but as the passage proclaims, “what benefit can the dead be for the living?” Our only hope lies in recognizing our hope to return to the light of God’s Word. According to the psalmist, “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”

Psalms 119:105 (HCSB) There is no “dawn”, no hope for tomorrow in all other sources of truth and understanding that we may seek in lieu of facing up to our Lord and Savior.

Why do bad things happen to good people? That is a difficult question to answer because God does allow it to happen. God allows His people to experience times of trials, testing and even tribulation, but not to despair in, but to strengthen our relationship with in by faith. Where there is no strain, there is no gain! As we walk in the face of difficult and dark and uncertain times, if we choose God’s will, God’s ways, and God’s wisdom according to God’s Word, He will be faithful to guide and protect you through those uncertain and dark days, and a new day will dawn to reveal a stronger faith resides within you that bonds you to God stronger then before. Only the truly faithful remnant survived the trying days of Israel and Judah during the period of Isaiah and the decades that followed. Only the truly faithful remnant huddled in the upper room of a home in Jerusalem in the days that followed the crucifixion of Christ, the Son of God. Where there seems to be no hope, God is there to restore all hope and shed light upon our path that seems so dark and gloomy, but you must not dwell on the problem but seek the solution to see the light.

Throughout the Bible God clearly provides instruction for those difficult and dark days, even the days that point to His ultimate judgment for everyone at death’s darkness – He always says He is the answer, and not even death can conquer Him, He alone is the source of the light in this world and beyond death. He alone is the giver and sustainer of life, in this world and beyond death. So why would we seek to save our life and get some light of truth from anyone or anything else in this world? That was the message of Isaiah to Israel and Judah 3,000 years ago, and it remains the message to us today.

Coach

www.coachbrown.org

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man named John who was sent from God. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. John 1:1-9 (HCSB)