Kindling Torches vs. Holding Hands

Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Isaiah 50:10

As I write these words I can still hear the voice of my mentor years ago. She patiently listened to me complain for hours about the fact that I had no idea what to do about my messy life.

"That is so good!" She said, her eyes shining with happiness. "You are right where God wants you."

I was, and often still am, the person who walks in darkness and has no light. Anger, disrespect, or conflict erupts between me and my stepkids and I have no idea what to do.

The wise counsel in Isaiah 50:10 is followed by a contrasting scenario and a stern warning.

Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand; you shall lie down in torment. Isaiah 50:11

Isn't that what we do? We find ourselves in a dark place, unable to see the way out. Our natural instinct is to immediately equip ourselves with a burning torch and grope our way out of the problem. This is not God's way. Instead we ought to refuse the urge to kindle a torch by grabbing onto a quick solution, and instead choose to rely on God in the dark. 

I still find myself kindling torches, and stumbling around in the dark.
I want to get better at reaching for God's big hand to guide me through instead.