And I Will Bring the Blind by a Way That They Knew Not
The mystery of God's procedure is a result of our limited understanding, but humility and trust in His guidance can lead to ceaseless adoration and praise.
Octavius Winslow emphasizes God's sovereign guidance in the lives of His people, illustrating that while God's ways may seem mysterious to us, they are perfectly clear to Him. He explains that our inability to see the full picture leads to confusion and doubt, but we are called to trust in God's eternal wisdom and goodness. Winslow encourages believers to humble themselves before God, recognizing that true guidance comes from surrendering our own understanding and relying on the Lord's direction. He reassures the suffering believer to wait patiently for God's glory, as He leads us through paths we do not know. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a posture of humility and trust in God's perfect plan.
Text
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16
THESE words imply a concealment of much of the Lord's procedure with His people. With regard to our heavenly Father, there can be nothing mysterious, nothing inscrutable to Him. A profound and awful mystery Himself, yet to His infinite mind there can be no darkness, no mystery at all. His whole plan--if plan it may be called--is before Him. Our phraseology, when speaking of the Divine procedure, would sometimes imply the opposite of this. We talk of God's fore-knowledge, of His foresight, of His acquaintance with events yet unborn; but there is, in truth, no such thing. There are no tenses with God--no past--nor present--nor future. The idea of God's eternity, if perfectly grasped, would annihilate in our minds all such humanizing of the Divine Being. He is one ETERNAL NOW. All events, to the remotest period of time, were as vivid and as present to the Divine mind from eternity, as when at the moment they assumed a real existence and a palpable form.
But all the mystery is with us, poor finite creatures of a day. And why, even to us, is any portion of the Divine conduct thus a mystery? Not because it is in itself so, but mainly and simply because we cannot see the whole as God sees it. Could it pass before our eye, as from eternity it has before His, a perfect and a complete whole, we should then cease to wonder, to cavil, and repine. The infinite wisdom, purity, and goodness that originated and gave a character, a form, and a coloring to all that God does, would appear as luminous to our view as to His, and ceaseless adoration and praise would be the grateful tribute of our loving hearts. Let us, then, lie low before the Lord, and humble ourselves under His mysterious hand. "The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies." Thus writing the sentence of death upon our wisdom, our sagacity, and our strength, Jesus--the lowly one--seeks to keep us from the loftiness of our intellect and from the pride of our heart--prostrating us low in the dust at His feet. Holy posture! blessed place! There, Lord, would I lie; my trickling tears of penitence and of love falling upon those dear feet that have never misled, but have always gone before, leading me by a right way, the best way, to a city of rest. Wait, then, suffering believer, the coming glory--yielding yourself to the guidance of your Savior, and submitting yourself wholly to your Father's will.
Sermon Outline
- The Mystery of God's Procedure
- God's plan is not mysterious to Him
- Our limited understanding makes it a mystery to us
- We see only a part, not the whole
Key Quotes
“The infinite wisdom, purity, and goodness that originated and gave a character, a form, and a coloring to all that God does, would appear as luminous to our view as to His, and ceaseless adoration and praise would be the grateful tribute of our loving hearts.” — Octavius Winslow
“The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way.” — Octavius Winslow
“All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” — Octavius Winslow
Application Points
- We should humble ourselves under God's mysterious hand and submit to His will.
- Trusting in God's guidance requires yielding ourselves to our Savior and submitting to our Father's will.
- By doing so, we can experience ceaseless adoration and praise, and a grateful heart.