Wednesday, December 31, 2008

'The Desert Shall Rejoice and Blossom'

The reading of Isaiah 35 seemed appropriate. Alyce and I were visiting two of the many memorable saints in our church--and their daughter, home for the holidays to help out her parents, her mother just home from the hospital.

"The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God" (vv. 1,2).

I thought of the passage because Blossom is the mother's name--entirely appropriate to her spirit and character, and it seemed a right time to give her and her husband as well as their daughter Isaiah's message of hope on the brink of a New Year.

"Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, 'Be strong! Do not fear! Here is your God. ... He will come and save you'" (vv. 5,6).

It was a kind of shekina moment for all of us as the reading went on, lifting that family's spirit as well as ours--lending perspective as only Scripture can to the living our our days, past, present, and future, no matter our circumstance.

"A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way.... And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (vv. 8-10)..

Don and Blossom and their family have known the wilderness in recent years. But neither the darkness there nor the dryness of those experiences have overcome the Spirit within and beside them. Their smiles whenever present and their undying sense of hope in God, so evident in our conversations and prayers together over time, have both won out and are winning still.

Isaiah's words of hope were a stunning reminder to us all as we finished reading and went to prayer. Our hearts were renewed and our spirits made alive to what God though him had promised, for in those very moments sorrow and sighing had fled away.

Blossom is getting well. And the wilderness and dry land through which she and her family have come is being transformed by the Lord's presence through his people and word. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!