Jeff's Journal

 

Jeff’s Journal

Read Isaiah 35:1-10

The ground is frozen and white.

The air temperature is 4.

The homeless are packed into

the Hope Center and even

Arlington Christian Church.

Gloves and hats are out

and birds flock to the feeders.

Strangely enough, the text

takes us to the desert,

where life is difficult

and always a struggle.

The prophet speaks,

“Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.”

“Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

‘Be strong, do not fear.’”

The prophet knows us.

We are afraid.

We fear our enemies,

and what we do not understand.

We are shaken by losses

which come in many ways.

Only you know the depth

of your own loss.

Is there hope?

The prophet speaks.

“Here is your God.”

It is as if he is introducing

us again for the first time.

Listen. “Here is your God.”

“He will come and save you.”

Oh, I don’t know.

“Here is your God,”

opens me to all the ways

God knows and loves me.

I can’t tell you how to know

what God can do for you.

But I can say with the prophet

the words we’ve known

for a while:

 

“Here is your God.”

May this become clear to you

through a faith that proclaims,

“they shall obtain joy and gladness,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Moving to the deeper places,

Jeff