When God Turns Off The Lights

When God Turns Off the Lights

Isaiah 50:1-3, 10-11

Have you ever felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel? Have you ever felt that God was far away? When you are hurting and need God the most, sometimes it may be that you can't sense His presence. The question is what will you do when God turns off the lights?

I. There will be times of darkness in our lives when God turns off the lights.

A. Isaiah 50:3, 10b “I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering… “Who among you fears the Lord?

Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light?”

B. In John 8:12 Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

C. As believers in Christ, Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “We no longer walk in the darkness of sin and ignorance but some may be called on to walk in the darkness of trouble and perplexity.” - copied

D. Job 5:7 “Yet man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.”

E. Most of us, if we live long enough, will face a day will when hardship and affliction will assault us.

F. The Psalmist cried out in Psalms 22:11 “Be not far from Me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.”

G. There may be times when we don’t understand what God is doing

H. At times it would appear as if God has abandoned us, we don’t see where God is. We may even get to the point where we do not even see the marks of God’s grace in our lives.

I. Psalm 74:9 “We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knows how long.”

J. Psalm 22:1 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?”

K. Psalms 10:1 “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?”

II. What will you do when God turns off the lights?

A. There are three options that are open to you.

B. You can get mad at God, blame Him for your problems and do nothing.

1. When we are experiencing struggles and suffering in our everyday lives. We can get so focused on the oppression of the immediate that we get angry with God. We begin to question God as we examine the 'whys', ‘how comes' and 'what ifs'. We cloud our vision of God and begin to blame Him for our problems.

2. Romans 9:20 "Why have you made me like this?"

3. People get mad at God for allowing evil or pain to come into their lives.

4. Many just like to sit and stew. There's an Ozark story about a hound sitting in a country store and howling as hounds do. In comes a stranger who says to the storekeeper, "What's the matter with the dog?" "He's sitting on a cocklebur." "Why doesn't he get off?" "He'd rather holler."

C. You can light your own fire and try to walk in the light you generate

1. Isaiah 50:11 “Behold, all ye that kindle a fire that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”

2. Proverbs 3:7 “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”

3. Psalms 108:12 “Give us help from trouble, For the help of man is useless.”

D. You can walk in the darkness holding onto God’s hand

1. Verse 10 ““Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God.”

2. "When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer." --Corrie Ten Boom

3. Trust in the Lord

a. Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

b. Psalm 118:8 “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man”

c. Trust in yourself, and you are doomed to disappointment; trust in your friends, and they will die and leave you; trust in money, and you may have it taken from you; trust in reputation, and some slanderous tongue may blast it; but trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity.—D. L. Moody.