Isaiah - Hope

 

Good morning class.  

Question of the day:  What brings you great joy? 

I am changing things up, these last few lessons.  I wanted to make sure I touch on a couple of the chapters that I especially love in Isaiah.  We can't end on a Woe chapter!!!!  So here we go.  

Chapter 35

Joy of the Redeemed

35 The desert and the parched land will be glad;
    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
    the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
    the splendor of our God.

3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
    “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
    he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
    he will come to save you.”

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
    the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
    grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there;
    it will be called the Way of Holiness;
    it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
    wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there,
    nor any ravenous beast;
    they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
10     and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

This is one of my favorite chapters for the poetic language depicting a life with God. This would make a beautiful song, about what a life redeemed.  Let's go back over it verse by verse.  

No matter how dire our situations are.  No matter how bleak.  No matter you pain, your disability, no matter your disadvantage, no matter your fear, your blindness, He is coming to save you.  

Does that make a difference when you are in the midst of the difficulty? 

The stress of moving is real.  Trying to get the house organized, repaired, cleaned out, is a daunting task. My muscles are sore, my heart is breaking and rejoicing all at the same time.  It is crazy hard, but the day we finalized on an apartment, everything changed for me.  Yes it is still hard, but I know in three weeks the work will be done, we will be cleaned out, downsized, and moved into our new landing pad.  Having that to look forward to makes this struggle easier.  

 This is even better than that.  Here is why.  Jesus has already come, died on the cross, paid the price, and now we just get to wait for his return. But we don't have to wait for His return to live with joy.  We don't have to wait to live redeemed we can do that right now!