CROOKED MADE STRAIGHT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 196, 4 September 1937, Page 12

CROOKED MADE STRAIGHT

G. F.

Whitehead.)

(By

"That which is crdoked cannot be made straighf." — Eccles. 1: 15. "I will male . . . crooked things straight. " — Isa. 42: 16. In these two verses human impotence and divine omnipotenee are on contrast. The first is the conclusion of oue who " was experieneed above most men in human affairs^'who had "given his heart to seareh out by wisdom all things that are done under the Sun," and had beeome convineed that i.t is not possible to right things in tb6 world: "That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be nunibered." fie is expressing the situation as it appears from the purely human standpoint, And after manv further centuries of eivilisation, and all the eft'orts made by men for the improvement of tliings, is tho outlook in orar own day any more encouragmg? Do we not still find statesmen and Ieaders baffled by the problems of their time, and in despair as to how to deal successfully with them; and is it not still clear that by man's resources "that which is crooked cannot be made straight"? Happily there is another standpoint — that of God;s purpose and power, and this the second veree above quoted sets before us: "I will make . . . crooked things straight." Earth's insoluble problems, and the righting of its innumerable wrongs, are not to bo for ever left to man's fruitless eEorts. There is to be a flnal undertaking of them by God Himself, and that by His direct intervention through the retiirn in glory and power of His elect Servant (Isa. 42: 1), the once crueiied but novir exalted Saviour, who site at His right hand awaiting the appointed time, and who, when that time comes, "will hot fail nor be discouraged till He have set judgment in the earth" (v. 4).

Notice the nme "I wills" m verses 14-K/ df this chapter (Isa. 42), and the seven "shalls" in verses 1-4. These are indeed the words of divine' Omnipotenee, and the Scrijiures abound in similar predictions. But there is~ a more persOnal application "of the texts which. may be made. What of the crooked things which need straightening in our own lives and characters? Is i.t not only too true that we are impotent of ourselves to put them " in order? Have we not tried many ways to do so, only to say at the finish with Paxil the Apostle, "how to perform that which is good I find not" (Rom. 7: 18). He goes on to say, however, "I thanl God through Jesus Christ oui Lord" (v. 25), thereby bringing .us into the power of the promise of Him who said, "I wijl_ make the crooked straight. 5 ' The miracle recorded in Luke 13: 13 is an interesting illustration of this very fhing. The poor woman there mentioned after spending eighteen years "howed together" with no power to lift up herself, must have been inelined to despair of her crookedness ever being straightened. How wonderful then to her to meet with thc Lord of Isaiah's aficient prophecy, and at His word to be "immediately made straight." Well might she, as she did, glorify God! Believers have be^n reseued by graco from a ''crooked and perverse nation" (Phil. 2: 15), but we need to bring our hearts and lives nnder His revealing glanee, to discover the crooked things still needing His healing power. May we be found willing to do this, and to have Him make us straight wherever and whenever we repeatedly need it. How great is the final prospect, when at last He shall "present us to Himself, not having epot or wrinkle or any sucn thing" (Eph. 5: 27), and there shall be no crookedness in us or around us. Then also shall be straightened out the crooked things of life's journey. The mysterious happenings, broken threads, even sad mistakes of our experience, shall be cleared up. It is wonderful, however, how some "tangled ekeins" can be unravelled in thi3 life if given in submission and obedienee into His Almighty hands. So, whether as regards earth's conditions or personal experience, hope Li the keyword for the man of faith. The outward look of Eccleoiastes and the inward iook of Rom. 7, dissolve in the upward look of Isaiah, for "every valley shall be exalted, and eVery mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made etraight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it" (Isa. 40: 4, 5).