I Will (or rather HE Will)

Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
"I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I WILL take you by the hand and (I WILL) keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them."
I WILL lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I WILL turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I DO NOT FORSAKE THEM.
Isaiah 42:5-9, 16

I don't know about you, but verse 7 makes me think about our kids...blind, prisoners, sitting in darkness, dungeons. And He has called US to bring them out and open their eyes. We've been obedient. We've answered Him with an enthusiastic YES! And now...we (some of us) struggle. For many months, I felt like God had abandoned me. I felt alone and angry and the longer it went on, the foggier my thoughts became. But read those verses again...HE took me by the hand and kept me. HE led me when I was blind and didn't know the way down this unfamiliar path. HE will continue to turn the darkness I was in into light. HE will level out the rough places. HE DID NOT FORSAKE ME! And He has not forsaken you either! He can't! HE IS THE LORD! I am so confident that God is doing these things for you too. It makes me weepy to think about.

I am praying these verses today for each of you. Praying especially that the former things will pass and that He will now declare NEW things for each of you. New things are coming, friends.