Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Just hold on.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of us reach a point where we just go pfffft. After nearly a month of reading Isaiah's (well, God's) diatribe against first Judah, then the remnants of Judah and Israel, we reach a point where things change.

Black becomes white.
Bad becomes better.
Depression lifts, anxiety lessens.

God says, "Comfort, oh comfort my people." in the 40th chapter of Isaiah.

"Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem," God says, "but also make it very clear that she has served her sentence, that her sin is taken care of, forgiven! She's been punished enough and more than enough, and now it's over and done with."

Isaiah goes on to write, "Thunder in the desert! "prepare for God's arrival! make the road straight and smooth, a highway fit for God."

God is coming. God has watched the time pass. Captivity is over. Freedom is near. God is coming.

I guess the image to hold on to here is that though the time of pain and suffering seems so very long, God is coming to comfort. Though the evil and selfishness seemed to last forever, they too will be washed away by the comfort, the grace, of our Lord.

IF...

we and hold on. Just hold on. Just weather the storm. Just take the blow. Just fall, but not lay there. Hold on. Hold on.

If one day in his courts is like a thousand elsewhere, then time away from his courts is like a thousand elsewhere but if we hold on, then we get to spend a long, long, long day in his courts.

Isaiah writes, "Who has scooped up the ocean his his two hands, or measured the sky between his thumb and little finger, who has put all the earth's dirt in one of his baskets, weighed each mountain and hill? Who could ever have told God what to do or taught him his business?"

The great and wonderful Jehovah is our Father, friends. If we can just hold on...

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