Isaiah 35:1-10
Over the past week I read aloud Isaiah 35 two or three times a day. I identified very much with Isaiah’s references to the dry desert and the gift of blossoms brought by rainfall. Living in the dry desert- like Panhandle of Texas from birth to my mid twenties, I get the descriptions of a barren land.
Isaiah’s description of the human conflicts in the ancient Middle East is too similar to the horrors and images we see today on our screens.
This week the prophet Isaiah has given me hope. Yes, he describes for ancient Israel a God who will not be mocked, but also a God who will not abandon them. This is the news we desperately seek today from Damascus to Brownsville as mothers and fathers seek refuge for themselves and their children in a chaotic world.
Let us each give Isaiah an opportunity during this Advent season to reintroduce to us the hope from the desert with abundant blossoms along our journey. We are being reminded that we are recipients of joy and mercy…...hallelujah!
I offer my gratitude to the words of the prophet Isaiah which reveal a God of gladness and joy!
~ Carol Doidge