My study Bible has this note on this verse: No human incapacity can defeat God's purpose of grace. His ways are counterintuitive to human understanding that those he delivers might as well be blind, in darkness and on rough terrain, but God leads them through.
I started really dwelling on this promise God gives us and was simply blown away and also amazed at how I have seen this promise displayed so obviously in my life.
I vividly remember sitting in the Calcutta, India airport during our 10 hour lay-over on our route to our first ministry of the World Race in July and fully realizing what I was stepping into. It was insanely hot. It smelled awful. The food was gross. I had to use a squatty potty for the first time. There were tons of men walking around with huge guns on their backs. I missed my family and friends more than I could explain and realized I wouldn't see them for 11 months. I sat there crying and so desparately wanting to hop on the plane back to America. I had no idea how I could do this for 11 months.
Now I'm seeing how beautiful that time was. That was me stepping into blindness. Reluctant, terrified, and unsure of what the future holds, but by stepping on that next plane to Hydrabad, India instead of to Atlanta, Georgia, I was shutting my eyes and trusting the eyes of the Father.
Imagine being blind. I can't fathom how challenging everything I take for granted would be. I would figure though, if it's all you know, you'll adapt and start memorizing the path to the bathroom or to your bedroom and maybe down the street.
But imagine if all the sudden a blind person decided to go on a hike up a treacherous mountain that they had never been up before.
It would simply be impossible without a guide.
This guide would need to be patient and gentle. They would need have perfect eye sight and be extremely aware of all the surroundings. The guide should probably be experienced and know the pathway up the mountain extremely well.
The blind person would need to trust that guide with all that they are. They would need to follow the voice of the guide and block out all other distractions so they can reach the top of the mountain alive. Even though the blind person can't see where their next foot is going, they have to trust that the guide knows exactly what he's doing. Each step would be a step of trust.
This is what God desires of us as His children. To stop straining our eyes and trying to figure out what He's doing. To stop going down our old familiar paths but instead trusting Him as He guides our steps to new places.
He then promises to turn the darkness into light and the rough places into level ground.
But we still have to remember that we are blind during this time. We won’t know whether it’s day or night around us. Whether there is light or darkness surrounding us, we are not effected by it.
“If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” Psalm 139: 11-12
The only part we might be able to sense is if the ground underneath us is rough. We might start to worry if our footsteps land on an uneven terrain and we can’t see it for ourselves. We may question if our Guide has led us down the wrong path. But our Guide promises He will turn it into level ground.
I have seen God redeem those frightening moments in the airport when all I saw around me was darkness and fear. In those moments, He was beckoning me to simply close my eyes. He was whispering, “My daughter, you are wanting to open your eyes and step down your old familiar paths. But now is the season where I am asking you to close your eyes and let Me be your guide. You have never been down these paths before, but I promise I will never forsake you.”
And each moment of the Race has been a step in blindness. Each travel day, I sense the same uneasiness I felt that day because I literally have no idea what the next country will hold. What will our living conditions be like? What is the food like? What is our ministry like? What are the people like?
I am seeing now that those are the moments of rough terrain that God doesn’t say He’ll steer us away from, but instead He promises to turn into level ground.
I have seen this happen before my eyes. Each time I set foot in a new country, uneasiness sets in. I long for the last country, where I knew its culture and food and people.
But then before I know it, these countries that I have never been to before become familiar. I’ve seen people that were complete strangers become family. I’ve seen cultures that are completely foreign to me become second nature to me. And before I know it, that uneven ground has become level again.
This isn’t just a promise for those of us on the Race or those who travel the world. It’s for everyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ. Instead of walking down the paths of comfortable living, God is asking us to seek blindness and trust Him. He is calling us to shut our eyes and cling tightly to Him as He guides us down unknown paths. He created the paths, created us, and is unaffected by light and darkness.
My eyes grow tired easily, they are easily distracted and have a hard time seeing in the dark. I want to give over my sight for His sight in every moment because He in the ultimate and eternally faithful Guide.
