Freedom

(seems like everyone's stealing my day to post!)


Today's passage put a sense of freedom in my heart. After all of the depressing passages we've been reading this week about destruction and vengeance, I felt really free reading today's passage. The wilderness will "burst" into bloom, and water will "gush forth" in that place. This kind of imagery is very encouraging during our spiritual dry spells - something I feel that I've been going through lately. We are put through trials, and we must endure, but sometimes we forget why we must endure. This very passage is the reason. We come to a point where we cannot bear it all on our own - we have "feeble hands" and "knees that give way." But at the end of this long, hard road, God will come to redeem us, to call us home. The Bible says to be strong for God will come to save us with "vengeance" and "divine retribution." The idea of God taking us home with Him reminded me of a red carpet where no beast or sorrow or uncleanliness can follow us. We get to walk across this holy, sanctified path with God as "everlasting joy" crowns our heads. How awesome :)

I want to be hopeful and rejoice because this is God's promise to us, and it can't be taken away from us.