A smoking wick he will not quench

There have been times in my life when I felt I could take on the world. But there have also been times when a more apt description was “the good or want to do I don’t do, and the evil I don’t want to do that’s the very thing I do in” (Romans 7:19). In this morning’s partial quote from Isaiah 43:3, the Lord is really assuring us (me), that we are still His even our weakest moments. When it’s doing its job, the wick would be in full flame. When the flame is quenched, there is no light. And there are times when, in the battle against good and evil, the enemy seems to be winning, and our light feels like nothing more than a smoking wick, but a smoking wick can still be fanned into flame!

He does not give up on us, for “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he has established justice in the earth” (verse 4). The line from an ancient hymn comes to mind “and though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.” In fact the Scripture tells us that there is coming a day when God will ride in on a white horse to bring justice and make war on all His enemies (Revelation 19:11). But in the meantime, He calls us into significance through partnership to with Him in bringing the Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven.

In the process of a little child learning to walk, the muscles in the legs first need to be strengthened, and this is accomplished bit by bit, by the child first of all pulling himself up on a piece of furniture, and still holding on, simply stand. The role of the parent is to encourage the child. Then as the child lets go of the furniture, wobbles and falls down, the parent encourages the child to try again. Eventually the first step is attempted, the child will fall, and again the parental role is to encourage, to applaud, to tell the child good job! And this is what the Lord does with us too in our stumbling progress. When we fall He tells us He will never leave us, nor forsake us. And He encourages us in and through His Word, by his Holy Spirit and the fellowship of the saints. And bit by bit as we cooperate with Him, He strengthens and equips us until we are strong in Him, and can do great exploits (Daniel 11:32).

Father, looking back on at least some of those times I felt I could take on the World and then shortly afterwards falling unceremoniously on my rear end, I quickly realized I was operating in my own strength. It is through our weakness Lord that we see our need of You. And then when we learn to operate in Your strength, we can say with Paul “When I am weak then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Thank You Lord that through Your Grace, Your strength is made perfect in us through weakness (verse 9). In Jesus Name Amen