Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:12] Welcome back to another edition of the weekday podcast. Today's episode is called Light in the Darkness. And it comes from Isaiah 9, verse 2, when Isaiah says, the people who walk in darkness, they will see a great light. And those who live in a dark land to the light will shine on them. Now, when Isaiah wrote these words, the people of Israel were living under the shadow of one of the most brutal, I'm telling you, brutal empires in history, the Assyrians. So think of them as the nightmare you can't wake up from. They didn't just conquer nations, they terrorized them. And Israel was watching it all unfold, knowing that they could be next. So they had a lot of fear, uncertainty and darkness. And right in the middle of that suffocating reality, Isaiah delivers this line. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Now, here's what's beautiful about this. God doesn't deny their struggle. He doesn't say, stop complaining, it's not that bad. Instead, he names it, you're in darkness. It's real. It's heavy. But then he makes a promise. Light is coming.
[00:01:11] And 700 years later, that promise shows up in the most unexpected way. A baby born in a barn, laid in a feeding trough. Jesus, the light of the world. The word Isaiah uses for light isn't just any light. It's blazing. It's impossible to miss light. The. The kind that doesn't just illuminate, but it pierces, it breaks through, it transforms. Jesus doesn't just expose the darkness, he rewrites it. So maybe you're walking through some darkness right now. Maybe it's grief. You lost someone this year, and the holidays feel a little hollow. Or maybe it's financial pressure. You're not sure how you're going to make it through January. Or maybe it's relational. Or your marriage is hanging on by a thread, you and your kids have shut you out. Or maybe you feel completely alone, even in a crowded room, and somewhere along the way, you stopped expecting God to show up. Well, here's what happens. When you stop expecting, you stop looking. And when you stop looking, you miss him, even when he's right there. And literally, I've watched this. I've watched people stay in darkness for years. Not because God wasn't offering light, but because they stopped looking for it. They convinced themselves this is just how it's going to be. But today, I want to remind you, you're not meant to live that way.
[00:02:24] It's like when you're frantically searching for your keys, tearing apart the house and then someone points out they're in your hand. You've been holding them the whole time. You just stopped believing they'd be that close. So here's the action for this week. Look up. When you're stuck in darkness, you've got to lift your eyes and look for the light. What does that look like? Practically, it means to look up from your circumstances to God's promises, to open your Bible, find one verse about hope and put it where you'll see it every day. Or look up from your isolation and ask for help. Text someone today, say, I'm struggling. Can we talk? Don't wait for them to notice. Speak up. And then look up from your worry and pray. Even a simple prayer. God, I need to see you in this moment. Show me one thing today, God, that reminds me that you're still here. Hope is not passive. It's active. Hope looks for the light. And when you look up, I'm telling you, you. You'll start seeing it. You know that moment when you're driving at night on a back road, it's pitch black. There's no street lights, just your headlights cutting through the darkness. You can't see the whole road, just the next 20ft. But you keep driving. Because even though you can't see the destination, you trust the light in front of you. And that's how hope works. You don't have to see the whole plan. You just need enough light for the next step. And Jesus, he is that light. And so today, I want to encourage you, you don't need to see the whole road. You just need light for the next step. Take a next step today. Have a great day. We'll see you back here soon.
