God's Goodness Doesn't Run Out | Crossroads Daily

Welcome, glad you're with us. My name's Caleb. I'm Mish. I'm Sierra. I'm Alex. And we're going way back to the Old Testament. We're going to Isaiah chapter 60 today. Way back. Way back. Like, I think it's six or seven hundred years before Jesus was born. I actually did not mean to do that. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry parents, I'm sorry everyone who had to deal with that. That is the timeline though. He's a prophet who lived well before Jesus was born. Has some prophecies about Jesus. This chapter specifically talking about God being a light and giving light in a really hopeless situation. So God's people were in exile away from their homeland. Everything is terrible. And this is a glimmer of hope. One thing that stuck out to me in verse 19, it talks about God's light being an everlasting light. A light that doesn't run out. A light that you don't have to charge. You know, you don't have to plug in the wall or whatever. Throw some more logs on the fire. You think about that kind of descriptive word, everlasting. How does that change the way you think about God's light or presence in your life? What does that mean to you? Because last I checked, you're not in exile. You're not an ancient Israelite. But I think it still matters. Yeah. It just makes me think, what is actually in this earth that is everlasting? It feels like nothing. It feels like everything expires. Food, patience, everything. And so it's actually weird just to sit with the concept that something could be everlasting or someone could offer chances that actually don't run out. That is a crazy concept, I feel like, in today's world. Yeah. That made me think about, technically, the only thing that doesn't expire is honey. And Jesus says, honey in the rock. And that's sweet. So that's good. That is sweet. Because it doesn't expire. Honey is also sweet. That was a dad joke. That was a dad joke. All right. Now I'll contribute. Good job, guys. Are you going to dad me? Yeah. Verses after that, to me, I think it's 21 and 22 that talked about when we receive the everlasting light, we will become righteous in his name.

And that righteousness, I think that's the only thing. Our human character embodied in Christ, I think, is the thing I think about. Because you're right. Nothing ever remains the same. Just to nerd out for a bit, I was learning a little bit about the Punic Wars. Oh, yeah. What is that? I know all about those. The Punic Wars. It's when Rome and Carthage fought. And there's three of them. But Northern Africa, many people may not assume used to be very lush with greenery. And that's because when you look at it now, the Sahara has grown. Desertification, I think is what it's called. But there was a time when there was a lot of trees there. Even that has not stayed the same. But the thing that has remained is our human character, our embodiment in Christ, that righteousness that is personified when we embody the love of Christ. Wow. This whole chapter, as we said, is giving hope to people that really don't have any. But it's a promise for the future, right? God will come. He will restore what has been taken. Will bring the light back. What does that bring to mind for you? Maybe something in your own life where God has done that? Maybe something that you've observed or in friends or family? Where have you seen God redeem something broken and do something way off the radar that you didn't expect? Yeah. Growing up, there was a lot of premature death in my family. Like immediate cousins under the age of 30 suddenly passing away. And that was incredibly challenging to process. And I was met with a lot of big emotions at a younger age, like grief and anxiety that I just did not understand. And I grew up in a family of faith. But I don't think I fully felt permission to question God and why those things were happening. And I don't think it's been until more recently. And from my perception of God changing, from seeing him as God, to seeing him as my father, and there being light and comfort, and bringing those worries and those questions and that hurt to him, that I don't think I would have experienced had I not seen him in that way,

as a father who wants to help me, who listens to me, who cares for me. So I think it's been this slow transformation of darkness, of hurt, and all these big things, and even now I don't still have all of the answers, and I probably won't, but I have comfort in knowing that I can take them to someone who will bring light to those things that I still don't have processed fully. I think about my health, and I've struggled with a number of different health issues my whole life, really, but when I was in middle school and high school, struggled significantly with fatigue, and was in and out of doctors and hospitals a lot, and eventually got diagnosed with a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. And when I think about a time in my life that felt hopeless, a doctor's diagnosis feels so final, this is the thing, and you will have to deal with this for the rest of your life. Sorry, that's just the reality, is what it feels like in the moment. So it feels so hopeless of, well, I'm gonna have to deal with these things that this thing brings with it for the rest of my life, and I've seen the opposite be true. I've seen things that doctors said I could never be able to do, I've been able to do,

or I would never be able to have kids, and now I have two, or I would never, there's some people with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome who have to walk with, I've seen hope in all of it, and I've also seen the way, kind of like you were talking about, Sierra, of in your own place of feeling hopeless, how I have empathy for other people who are walking through a similar thing. So even in a sense of hopelessness, helping other people feel hope because I can sit with them in that grief or hardship or things that just honestly suck sometimes, but even that can feel hopeful or feel like light for people, and I've experienced that for myself as well. Yeah, I love that, and I love to connect it to the light being everlasting because it doesn't run out, that's not gonna run out. The things that God is teaching you, and teaching Mish, and he's developing in us, there's really not an end to it, right? We keep going, grace upon grace upon grace until we get to the Father. It was really interesting to me, this chapter, Isaiah 60, is echoed really heavily. If you want homework, go read Revelation chapter 22. It's the very last chapter of the Bible, right? It's the promise for the future. God gathers all of his people into a city, and one of the things it says is there's no more night

because God dwells with him in the city and he is their permanent light, light forever. So whatever you think of as darkness, as night, as brokenness, doesn't get the final word, and for me, that gives me hope, right? Even on difficult days, even when things don't go the right way, right? I have a daughter with a diagnosis. She gets four shots every day because she has diabetes. It's always math, it's always counting carbs, but that gives me hope for the future because there is a day where there's no more diabetes and there's no more, I can't remember what it's called, but that thing, right? There's no more premature death, right? There's no more any of this brokenness. God is taking us there. So if you need a shot of hope, you get homework today. Go read Revelation chapter 22. There is an everlasting light. It's looking for you. Try to connect with it today.