LEAD, KINDLY L;IGHT

LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT
song #358 in Praise For The Lord

"Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God." Job 37:14

1. Closure

a) We are commanded to rejoice ever more. We are to Sing and be happy! But there are times of darkness and sadness. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus, even when He knew He was about to raise him from the dead. John Henry Newman was a leader in the English Church in the 19th Century. He had made a trip to Rome. As he returned his ship was stalled by a calm (no wind to fill the sails). As he waited in the darkness and gloom of the ship, he wrote this song in 1833.

Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom,
lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet, I do not ask to see
The distant scene, one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
shoulst lead me on!
I loved to choose and see my path; but
now lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure
it still will lead me on.
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent,
till the night is gone.
And with the morn those angel faces smile, which I
Have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Meantime, along the narrow rugged path,
Thyself has trod,
Lead, Savior, lead me home in childlike faith,
home to my God.
To rest forever after earthly strife
In the calm light of everlasting life.

b) Illness. (Rob Lacey, an English preacher-musician wrote as he was dying from bladder cancer.)

Why me? Why not him, or her?
Did God shuffle and shift?
Did He hear my cries?
Lord, how can I move on?
I don't see any open door.
I crawl through the valley of cancer.
I know YOU know the answer.
And the battle won't rattle me.
YOU are around, and I've found
there's something about Your empathy,
Your symphony of sympathy
that comforts me
You are with me.
YOU COMFORT ME.

2. Moving On

a) Like it or not, we all hit this type of place in our journey of faith. Many of God’s people are not schooled in the art of moving on. We spend a lot of our time stuck, living in the past, never able to move beyond what happened yesterday. We’re unskilled at navigating new beginnings.

God said to Abraham, "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you." Gen 12:1 (NKJV)

We see this pattern demonstrated time and again in the lives of God’s choice servants. They are required to let go of the old and step out in faith toward the new.

It is foolish on our part to believe that nothing in life will ever change. Everything changes! Our characters develop, our personalities blossom, our attitudes change, and unfortunately, our bodies grow older.

The definition of the word “closure” is “to bring something to a close; to bring to an end, to resolve and finalize it in your thinking, to move beyond.” It’s the act of resolving to let something go. Most often, closure is a decision; it’s an act of the human will. Sometimes it is easy, at other times grueling. More often than not, it is purely an act of faith; ACT and let feelings catch up with you later.

Many who are struggling with a decision to move on in life will battle day in and day out with the turmoil of weighing the pros and cons of life’s decisions. Uncomfortable, but actually a part of the process of life. It forces us to fully examine our decisions in light of good judgment. Is it possible the Lord is saying to you, “You have mourned long enough”? Could it be that you need closure in an area of your life? Undoubtedly, God wants to take you into something new. Are you ready for it?

"But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face." Psalms 5:7-8 (NKJV)