— Brother Phil Enlow: This is the God of the universe who is making this promise, not just in some vague, general sense, He’s making this promise to you, and you, and you, and you, and me, this morning. I sense this in my own heart, the Lord wanting me to come to a greater place where every issue of life, I can put in His hands.
And there are times when, yeah, He wants me to step out. But He can let me know that. But there are other times He wants me to just put issues in His hands and not struggle, and strive, and plan, and work, and do all the things that we do to try to run our own lives. We just come to a place and recognize that this God has promised to lead me.
This God, who is…it’s said of Abraham, this is the God who can call those things which are not as though they were. He doesn’t need anything to make something happen. He can create something out of nothing. What a God!
I’ll tell you, you want to trust yourself in this kind of crazy world? Yeah, you’re going to have a lot of heartache if you do. And God loves you and He loves His people, and He wants us to understand this simple principle. Oh God, help me to do it. Help me to understand it.
What an awesome word that second word is, ‘I will.’ You talk about will, you talk about something that is meant to be certain. Are we not talking about a God who, by His own declaration says, He cannot lie? I don’t tell lies. If I say I will do something, there is a determination in His heart that you and I need to find rest in.
This is not, ‘I will, if.’ This is not ‘if you measure up, I will.’ This is not a bargain. This is a promise. This is a one-sided thing where, yes, there’s a condition in a sense that we need to give ourselves to Him and put our trust in Him. But in terms of our performance, folks, every one of us, to one degree or another, are victims of our own performance, or lack thereof. May God help us.
Think about what He said earlier, when He anointed His Son, some of the things that He said. He will not cry, “…will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break…” (NIV). Do you feel like a bruised reed sometimes? Man, I’m a mess. I have messed up. Things are not like they’re supposed to be. God’s gonna get tired of me. He’s just gonna break me and throw me away, says, it’s not use, this isn’t going anywhere, this is worthless.
But that’s not the kind of God we serve. Praise God! “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Here He’s looking for a candle to give light, and the candle is just kind of smoldering and not quite getting there. Is this the kind of a God who’s gonna look at that and say, heck with that, throw it out? No, He’s not gonna snuff it out.
He’s not gonna snuff you out either. If you put your trust in Him, this is a God who can take our weaknesses and bring forth strength. That’s not an encouragement to give in and be weak. But this is a God who understands what He’s dealing with.
And He’s dealing with a mess when He’s dealing with me, and you, too, every single one of us. We are a lot deeper sense of need, we have a lot deeper need than we understand. Oh, we need the Lord! But oh, what an awesome God He is. What a spirit He’s portraying here, a bruised reed, a smoldering wick.
“In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.” This is somebody who sees your need and mine, this morning, says, I’m not giving up on them. They’ve put their trust in me, I’m the one who’s gonna bring them through. Yeah, I may have to lead them in all kinds of ways, but…I know how to do it. I know where the goal is. I know how to lead them.
And of course, that’s the next word. He says, “I will lead….” You know, we think of…you know, leading has to do with some place where you haven’t been yet. It’s out ahead of you. He’s not just talking about a physical path, like I need to be led down the steps here. This is into the future.
There’s something interesting, though, about God, that I think we need to recognize, we need to focus on for a moment. When you and I think about history, and written history, what are we talking about?
( congregational response ).
Something that’s past. And someone’s made a record of it so we have a knowledge of events that are in the past, they cannot be changed, that we can know about them and that’s about it. But history to us is past. But is that the way it is with God?
( congregational response ).
Yeah. I remember, my mind went back to a message I preached a number of years ago, I think now, and it was called “The Book of Truth.” And if you want to read through Daniel, chapter 10 sometime, that’s where the reference is. But Daniel came to a point in his life where he wanted to, he felt the need to seek God to understand some things. God had shown him things and there were questions in his mind.
And he set his heart to seek God and he engaged for three weeks in what people have called a “Daniel fast.” Basically, he just didn’t eat all the tasty, good, rich stuff. He just ate very plain food. But during that time, he set himself to pray.
And at the end of the time an angel comes to him, and said, Daniel, from the first time you set your mind to pray I was sent. And then it unlocks the fact that there was a spiritual battle, something that happened. There was a demon prince that withstood him. There was a battle that took place and finally the angel came to Daniel to reveal some things to him.
But in the process of revealing this, he made an interesting statement. He said, I’ve come to show you things that are written in the Book of Truth. And then what he began to show him were things that had not happened yet. What does that tell you? When God talks about history, what He…writing a written history, what is He talking about?
( congregational response ).
He’s talking about everything that ever has happened or will happen. God’s history has already been written. Now, does that mean that He has predetermined everybody’s reaction, we are just pieces on a chess board, and God just simply…or is God so great that He knows how to take everybody’s choice and weave it together, into a perfect plan?
See, God is sovereign, but boy, we are responsible. You see that everywhere. Choices are made and what happens is a result of those choices…you can’t blame it on God and say, God made me do it. Oh, we need the Lord, don’t we?
( congregational amens ).
But think about the greatness of a God who doesn’t have to say, this is where I’d like to take you, I don’t know how we’re gonna get there, but I’m gonna be with you. This is a God who knows your…this afternoon, He knows tomorrow, He knows the next day. He knows everything that will ever happen on the path between here and glory.
Think about what Paul said and how he put it. “…Those he called, he also justified, those He justified…” I forget what…did He sanctify them in there, in that particular verse? But anyway, he winds up, those He sanctified or set apart, He also…glorified.
What verb tense is that? That’s the past tense, isn’t it? So, here’s God declaring something about you and me, sitting here. We’re not glorified yet, in the process of time, and God is looking at you and me and saying, I have glorified them.
( congregational response ).
See, this isn’t just, I need somebody to guide me, I take that place of need. But think about who this is and what He has declared…and how He knows every detail of your life that hasn’t happened yet.
Do you want His plan or yours? See, we can…we know what to say. But learning how to take this place in everyday life is a challenge, isn’t it? We need the Lord. But oh, what an amazing, amazing God that we have. When you think about what it means to lead…well, let’s go along down to what he says.
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known…” What does that tell you? Well, one thing it tells us as a group, we can’t sit here and build a tradition, carry it out, and think everything’s great. We are a people on a pilgrim journey.
When God led His people out of Egypt, He led them in all kinds of places, for one thing. But also, the entire journey was one in which they were dependent upon Him in every way, for their food, for their drink, for where to go, for when to go. Do you remember the rule, the pattern was, that when the presence of God would settle on the tabernacle and when it did, or it settled on a place, they were supposed to camp there?
And if that lasted a month or two, that’s it. You don’t say, I’m tired of this place, I want to leave. God’s presence was there. But there came a day when that presence lifted off the tabernacle, and everybody knew what to do. They had a prescribed order for packing up, who gathered their stuff, and the order in which they marched out, and they followed that cloud. Folks, we need that same principle operating in our lives as an assembly today, individually and as an assembly. We need the Lord.
( congregational amens ).
The further I go, as I say, the more I feel my total need of the Lord. I see things I’d love to see happen, but I can’t make anything happen. We just need the Lord. We need to be, as a people, to covenant together with that sense…oh God, we want…we need You and we want You to lead us! No conditions attached. Just tell us what we’re supposed to be doing, or not doing, how we’re supposed to do it.
Send your anointing in whatever way and whenever You want to do it. Lord, we don’t want to say, this is what it’s supposed to look like, come down and fulfill our vision. We want His vision. Do you believe He wants to lead us?
( congregational response ).
I do, too. I want to be…I want to be a people that just don’t follow tradition. I mean, God did some amazing things over 50 years ago now. But this work is not built upon just preserving that and talking about it and making a big deal out of that, as though that’s the foundation of everything. Christ is the foundation!
What He’s doing and saying right now is the foundation! We are living in a different time, in a sense, than we were right back then. We’re seeing…excuse me…the unfolding of the things the Lord revealed back then. And we need the Lord to lead us right straight through it. I do.
And I feel my need more and more the further we go. And I hope I’m not the only one. I don’t believe I am. But I believe this is something that God wants to stir up our attention about. And say, God…and say, Lord, I want my people…the Lord’s saying, I want My people to know the real deal, not to go to sleep and lose touch with what’s really happening.
But to always…and not to give in to the fear, not to give in to all the…this zeal that wants to make plans, or wants to…this is how it’s supposed to be, or all the things, the reactions that we have…human beings have. I just want people who look to Me, every single day and trust Me, because that’s the people I’m gonna take to the other side.
“…Along unfamiliar paths I will guide them….” That’s exactly what happened in the wilderness. And folks, we are in a wilderness here, too, just as much as they were. And I’ll tell you, God is gonna take care of the things that happen.
“I will turn the darkness into light before them….” Interesting, to put that in the same promise, if you will, when he’s talking about being blind and then he’s saying, I’ll turn darkness into light. But you see what he’s talking about. I’m blind. When it comes to being able to lead myself in spiritual matters, in eternal matters, I do not have the ability inborn to do that. I need God.
But there are times when He will open my eyes and see…to be able to see this or see that. And I’m gonna be able to see things the world can’t see, not because they can’t but because they won’t! I want to be somebody whose will is surrendered in this area, who knows where my help comes from. And this is a promise of God. If we need light in an area, God has promised to give it!
( congregational amens ).
And we need to remind Him of that and say, Lord, we don’t know but we believe You. We are trusting in You, and the problem is in Your hands. We’re just gonna rest it there. Cast your burden upon the Lord, the scripture says, “…and he will sustain you.”
Folks, we don’t have to go around anxious. We don’t have to go around worried about tomorrow, and worried about what’s gonna happen. We can put all of our tomorrows in His hands. The history of your life has already been written!
Didn’t David say the same thing? All of my days have been written in Your book before any of them came to be. What a revelation. Man, he knew something that only God could show you.
“I will…” again, that strong, definite sense there, “I will turn the darkness into light before them.” When we need to see something, God can pull the veil back and let us see. I believe He’s shown us many things already, but I believe that everything we need to see He is going to open up.
“…And make the rough places smooth.” Now I know none of you ever have any rough places in your life! But I’ll tell you, we’ve got a God who can take us through whatever is appropriate in our lives. And you know, when we get in rough places, what does our nature drive us to do? Well, get out of it, deal with it with natural wisdom and natural energy.
But think about how God dealt with His people Israel. Did He not allow them to be trapped by the Red Sea? How did they get there? He led them there. He led them to an impossible place. So, did that mean He was mad at them and wanted to destroy them? No! He wanted to bring them to a place where there was no answer but God! And so, Moses obeyed the Lord, lifted up his rod, and God did the rest!
That’s what God is doing in our lives. If He has brought you to a place that’s impossible, there’s no human answer, you don’t know what to do, this is the time when God can shine! God will lead you and me into places like that.
And He will never abandon us there, those who put their trust in Him. It is not…it is not a tragedy, it’s an opportunity for God to show us who He is! And we need to lift up our eyes and look to Him.
I mean, how many times did Moses come to that kind of a place? Oh God, you got me out here, and it’s a mess, what am I supposed to do? “My presence will go with you…” God said, “…and I will give you rest.” Folks, that’s all we need.
Think about David in the 23rd Psalm, and how the Lord was…there again was something about a shepherd and a sheep. You had that same imagery going on, where there’s a shepherd and I’m just a sheep, I don’t know. But He leads me, some of it’s good places, still waters, plenty to eat.
But it’s not all good, is it, by our measure? Sometimes it’s through the valley of the shadow of death. And yet, David’s sense of the Lord’s love and compassion for him, even in that kind of circumstance, was such that he was able to say, “I will fear no evil.”
Now, why could he say that? Why could he say, I won’t…even if I’m in the valley of the shadow of death, I’m not afraid? I refuse to be afraid, because You’re with me.
Do you know there’s a God who is with you? Do you want to be one that puts your…that rests your hope and puts your trust in Him, puts your trust in this promise? This is a good promise to quote to the Lord. Say, Lord, this is what You told me. I fit the bill, Lord, I’m blind, I don’t know. I can’t handle life. But You promised to lead me. You promised to smooth out the rough places. You promised to turn light…darkness into light before me. Lord, I am just putting my hope and my trust in You.
“These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” Boy, what a positive promise, I mean right from the beginning to the end. Is He leading you in a challenging place right now? I suspect a lot of people could nod their heads and say, yeah, it is. I’m full of uncertainty. I don’t know how tomorrow is gonna unfold.
But I serve One who’s already written that history. I serve One who’s not only written it, but He’s promised to lead me through it. And not only has He promised to lead me through it, He understands who I am and how weak I am. And He’s not basing His willingness to do all of this on my qualifications. I don’t have any.
But oh, what a glorious Gospel we have for something…to be able to, in such a time in history, let alone anytime, but especially now, to be able as a congregation and as individuals, to say, God, my life is in Your hands. I am trusting in You with every issue of my life. I refuse to let the Devil fill me with fear. I don’t know the way, but You do, and my hope is in You. And this is Your Word, Lord. You told me You would lead me. And so, the ball is in Your court, Lord, I’m looking to You! Praise God!