A SMOULDERING WICK

A bruised reed He will not break,
and smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
(Isaiah 42:2-3)

Many people are like bruised reeds. God has created humanity to be innately vulnerable, like reeds that grow by the river. "As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more" (Psalm 103:15-16). At best, reeds are not strong. When they are bruised, they hang over limp and helpless. It is easy for an insensitive person to break a human "bruised reed" in half, virtually destroying that life. Jesus, the unique King, does not do that.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted . . . to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified" (Isaiah 61:1, 3).

At other times, people are like smoking flax. Their spiritual fire of hope or zeal is flickering, ready to burn out. A rough or legalistic person can easily extinguish the meager spark that remains. Once again, Jesus is unique. He can gently minister to that flickering wick, even fueling it back into a spiritual blaze. The disillusioned disciples on the road to Emmaus experienced that. "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us? " (Luke 24:32).

adapted from
http://www.bruisedreed.com/index.html