Promises in the Darkness
Isaiah 46:4 "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."-
No one ever said the Christian walk would be easy. As my pastor is fond of saying, if you aren't in trouble or coming out of trouble, then you are probably heading for it. The greater you allow God to use you, the more you can expect the enemy to come against you as well. While we all enjoy the mountaintop it is in the valley that our character is refined. It is where we grow and mature. It is also the valley that allows us to appreciate the mountaintop all the more. Noted preacher and author, A.W. Tozer once surmised, "It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply." It is the storms of life that allows us to appreciate the calm. Yet, while we are in the midst of the storm it can seem like forever and it is where our faith is tested. Joseph spent years in prison for something he didn't even do. It was during this time that he grew even closer to God and was able to see Him move in his life. It is the same for us today. In our darkness we have the light of God and He has spoken promises to us that we cannot forget in our storm. We tend to concentrate so much on getting out of the valley that we fail to see why God has us in it to begin with. There are many verses in the bible which relay the promises of God but perhaps the most succinct is found in this single verse from writings of the prophet Isaiah. These are the promises we need to hold onto in the darkness.
The first is that God does not change. Isaiah tells us that even to our old age and gray hairs, "I am he"; God does not change beloved. God is the only thing consistent in an ever inconsistent world:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. - Hebrews 13:8
In Joseph's life God spoke to him through dreams when he was still a
teenager. These dreams spoke of blessings in Joseph's life, with his family
bowing down to him. Yet from that point on Joseph would experience one valley
after another for over a decade. He was almost killed by his brothers, sold
into slavery, falsely accused after doing the right thing, thrown in prison for
something he did not do and then forgotten in prison by someone who had
promised to help him. All in all, not a great 13 years or so.
But God never changed during this time of Joseph's life. God stayed consistent.
When his brothers wanted to kill him, God ensured that he would instead end up
in
The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. - Genesis 39: 2-4
After Potiphar's wife falsely accused Joseph and he ended up in prison, God was still God and did not change:
But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. Genesis 39: 20-23
No matter what the darkness was , Joseph did not allow his faith to waver because he knew who God was. He knew that God does not change. In a world that was filled with inconsistency for Joseph, God was still his rock. Even to his old age and gray hairs, God was God. He will always be God to you too beloved. Don't let the storms distract you or discourage you. God is in all of them and He does not change.
The second promise in this Isaiah verse is that God will sustain you. The dictionary defines sustain as:
1) to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of
2) to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction.
God is promising you here that he will support you, hold you, and bear you up even bearing the weight of your very situation! The second definition is even more incredible! If you are under trial or affliction, God is promising to keep you even your very mind and spirit from giving way! These trials and afflictions are the very storms and valleys we have been talking about. God is promising here to sustain you. He will hold you up and keep you from giving into your situations. I am sure it always seems like our situations are unique in their pain and suffering but the Apostle Paul assures us:
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1Corinthians 10:13
God will not give you more than you can handle. He will sustain you. He will bear the weight of your valley Himself and provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. Through it all, He will keep your mind and spirit from giving way; from giving up. He is with you in your storm and will sustain you.
