Isaiah 35
Have you ever watched a movie about the struggle between good and evil that ended up with evil defeating good? I know I have. Unfortunately, I can’t think of a good example right off the top of my head, but I know that more than once in recent years, I have come to the end of a movie with a knot in my stomach because the story didn’t end well. What does Hollywood have against happy endings?
Fortunately, the Bible doesn’t have anything against them. After several chapters full of warnings of impending doom, judgment, and God’s wrath, Isaiah sees a happy ending: “Then the blind people will see again, and the deaf will hear. Crippled people will jump like deer, and those who can’t talk now will shout with joy. Water will flow in the desert, and streams will flow in the dry land. The burning desert will have pools of water, and the dry ground will have springs. Where wild dogs once lived, grass and water plants will grow.” (vs 5-7)
Photo © Unsplash/Bobby Stevenson
I love the idea in this passage that our God can turn any situation around. The blind? They’ll see again. The deaf? They’ll hear again. Crippled people? They’ll be leaping out in traffic like deer. (Okay, hopefully not in traffic.) Those who can’t talk? They’ll be shouting louder than the rest of us. The desert? It will become an ocean. Dead places? They’ll become full of life.
Is there a part of your life that you consider less-than-ideal? Are you struggling with illness, loneliness, joblessness, homelessness, or any other kind of -ness? No matter what it is, God can turn it around in an instant, and He will. In His time, He will make all things new.
Photo © Unsplash/Bethany Legg
Comedian Mark Lowry used to say that his favorite Bible verse was the one that says, “And it came to pass…” (In other words, it didn’t come to stay.) No matter what you’re going through today, enjoy it, because it will pass. Either it will pass or you will pass. It came to pass!
Whatever it is, God is going to make it new; one of these days, He’s even going to make you new, so just for today, relax and enjoy your life just as it is. Wait on the Lord, and He will turn things around in His time. He specializes in happy endings.