June 4

You can just hear the words of God in Isaiah's mouth, responding to an emotionally defeated nation. Granted, their hard times were God's response to their sin. But what seemed an endless string of bad news had impact on the people, none the less.

Continuing, God gives His people a picture, a preview of what His salvation would look like.

vv.5-7 say, "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water."

Look past the middle-eastern poetic imagery and you read words of hope. Hope that points to God's people later thriving in the abundance of God's pleasure.

These same people could look back and imagine what it was like for their famished ancestors in Egypt when Joseph opened up the silos full of grain.

In Isaiah's time, the people couldn't even imagine what that kind of life could be. It must have seemed for them to be like burning sand becoming a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. An inhospitable desert becoming a water park.

1 Corinthians 2:9 says, "But, as it is written, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him."

Many of us are crying out to God, for relief, for perspective, for something that feels like good news.

Know it or not, we're asking God to show us even a glimpse of heaven.

And while we wait and pray, we hope for the God who is always true to His promises.

Because we're so ready to see, hear and be refreshed by the River of Life.

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau