Jesus, my captain

(Read Isaiah 43)

I love Fridays for many reasons. Fridays are normally an easier work day with open afternoons to allow for basking in the sun with my wife, a paddle on the lake, or some neighborhood Pickleball. I also try to sneak in my longer runs around the lake on Fridays. It’s not the distance that defines the run, it’s the path.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19

We are resuming faith story interviews next week, but I felt it was important to put them on hold in order to share some personal stories this week. I had a bit of a health scare recently when trying to find the cause of persistent and increasingly frequent headaches. After meeting a neurologist, he mentioned some “red flags.” Well, when a specialist talks about red flags, that makes a chronic worrier like me hit my knees. I prayed after that appointment and before and after each of my diagnostic exams. I prayed for healing of course, but my prayers were more of a conversation about trusting my life to God’s plans for me. Surrendering. When I don’t surrender, I’m still clinging to control. Only God has the remote.

Upon reading that passage from Isaiah this morning during my quiet time, I felt compelled to share it with two of my friends who are going through some powerful journeys right now. I have been friends with one since childhood and the other since we were in our early 20s.

The prophet Isaiah told us that despite our wanderings, God is faithful and once again promises to provide for us. Through Isaiah, God is revealing the salvation that comes by following Jesus Christ.

One of my friends (J) went through a lengthy and complex surgery to remove a tumor from his neck. His path took him down the road of radiation. Now, he’s dealing with immunotherapy with all it’s strong side effects. Doctors recently discovered some “red flags” in my other friend (M). Adding to (M)’s journey is that he’s beginning a brand new job. Doing this at our seasoned age is especially stressful.

God is always working. This passage in Isaiah struck me with such profound hope. I didn’t know why at first. Then I saw it. God wants us to “perceive it,” His works, not ours. There is evidence of this reality everywhere we look. “I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Bang! Wow! The streams are symbolic language about living water gushing from the Holy Spirit to sustain is. Our time the wilderness is not the end. It’s just a painful part of our journey. God meets us on this path. He’s preparing us for this instance, and another, and another. We are never beyond His reach to do new things with us.

There’s another longtime friend of mine who I would love to share this Scripture with. She is going through a horrific experience with an aggressive type of brain cancer. We have been texting over the past few weeks, and her humor and wit is as healthy as ever. She’s realistic and so so courageous. I respect her beliefs, but I would still love her to know that God loves all people. God even loves the people who don’t love Him back, and He comes after them. He died for them.

This journey into the wilderness, reminds me of a service my friend (M) and I attended while vacationing with (J)’s family in South Carolina. A humble teenage girl with a big voice sang this song during worship before the sermon. The song is hauntingly beautiful, and the lyrics echo our guided journeys. I will never forget the experience.

Like the wind
You’ll guide
Clear the skies before me
And I’ll glide this open sea
Like the stars
Your word
Will align my voyage
And remind me where I’ve been
And where I am going
Jesus, my captain
My soul’s trusted Lord
All my allegiance is rightfully Yours
Captain by Hillsong United

“Spiritual refreshment comes from times of spiritual testing” (Greg Laurie). Most people don’t like change. I don’t mind change, I just don’t like unwanted change. The cause of my ongoing migraines has not yet been diagnosed, but by the grace of God, the red flags turned out to be branches to step over rather than stumbling stones. I’m not out of the woods, but in this world, none of us are. Often times, we avoid change because of nostalgic feelings of the past or the uncertainty of the unknown voyages. The strength and pure faith of (J) and (M) has prepared them for whatever opportunity God has in place for them. In response to my text this morning citing Isaiah 43:19, (M) wrote, “With such beautiful promises, why don’t I always remember them. Might show the amount of wasteland in my heart.”

God’s word convinces me that we will find our way through the wilderness. We might not like the current direction of our journey, and we certainly don’t like how long our suffering takes and how it feels. But we will always have hope. It’s not the distance that defines our journeys, it’s the path.

My friend with brain cancer is blessed with a loving family, tons of friends, and some who can re-introduce her to God’s love. Are there any words to describe this love? I think Pastor Charles Spurgeon might have summarized it best.

“If there is one subject that makes me back away from this platform utterly ashamed of my poor feeble words, it is this subject. This love of Christ is the most amazing thing under heaven, if not in heaven itself.”

Key Applications:

• Read Isaiah 43. Did the Jewish people deserve God’s redemptive love? Before you answer that question, consider if we deserve it? Have a conversation with God. Thank Him for coming to you. Thank Him for bringing you out.
• Remember these points in your next journey.
  • God goes with you
  • God will accomplish his will
  • God gives wisdom
  • God will meet you
  • God works where you cannot see

Stacey Pardoe
Guest Contributor from Desiring God
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/god-carried-us-with-promises

Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.