Smoking Flax

  Smoking flax, He shall not quench. – Isa. 42:3

We are inching towards Christmas. Celebrating the birth of our Savior. Prophet Isaiah talks about one of the things that the Messiah would not be doing – a smoking flax, a smoldering wick, He shall not quench. What does the prophet mean by a smoldering wick, a smoking flax?

1. A wick smolders when it is running short of oxygen. (Come on, I am a chemist, what else I am going to say? ) Yes, there are times in our lives, where we are breathing hard to survive. Things get so tough at times, everything we have planned may be falling all around us, all we may want is to have a breather… just a whiff of fresh air is all we want… but then we may be scared to admit that… but, my dear friend, take heart… Jesus will not put you down… Jesus will not forsake you. HE will give you the air you need, He will provide you the rest you need. HE knows that you have been carrying this burden for so long, He knows that you are tired and you just want to get over with, He knows your pain. And, He calls out for you. “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Mat. 11:28. It does not matter what burden you are carrying, Jesus is not talking to only the righteous, the saints or the pure of hearts. His call is to everyone… everyone who has a burden, everyone who is weary. All we need to do is come to Him and He will give you rest.

2. A wick smolders when it is corrupted. Yes, when there are impurities in the composition of a wick, it will smolder. Oh man, the smoke could be really irritating. Yet, the LORD in His mercy, will not quench that wick. Probably we have fallen – yet again. Probably we are not as strong as we thought we were. We had promised ourselves that we would not be doing it ever again. But then we realize that there is some corruption, somewhere deep in our hearts. So we give up, thinking that no matter how many chances we get, this is what we are going to do. We are going to fail again, we are going to be a disappointment, that this is how it is going to end finally. NO!!! No way, my dear friend, this is not your ending. You are not going to go with a whimper. No, no, no. The LORD is not going to let you go like this, no way. The LORD is going to make great changes in your life, He is going to do great things in your life, and the smoldering wick you may be today, but you are going to rise up and shine. For He is “the True Light that gives light to EVERY man.” – Joh. 1:9.

3. A wick smolders when the oil is over and the end is near. Yes, people may be thinking that this is the end of our road. Others may have written the final chapter of our story. Even our friends may be thinking that they are going to see “The End”. But not Jesus. You are never too young for Him, you are never too old for Him. The same God who chose Samuel when he was a kid, chose Moses when he was 80 years old. No matter what your condition is, Jesus can use you in mighty ways. HE will not quench you, my dear friend.

Unfortunately, whenever we say that Jesus will use you, people freak out and with good reason. They assume that they have to leave everything and become missionaries or preachers or something like that. To be honest, I was too . But when I read the Bible, the LORD showed me two persons from the Bible. They were the only ones who spent their time in the presence of the LORD a lot, they wanted to be in His presence all the time and you know what happened to them, they did not become priests, they did not become preachers… One of them is Joshua, one of the greatest warriors in the history of Israel. The other one is David, the great king of Israel. God will use you mightily in the field you are in. Whatever be that, you will shine forth. For HE will not quench a smoking flax.