“Then your light will break out like the dawn,
    and you will be healed quickly.”

It’s a dark, sick and broken world we live in.  You don’t have to look very hard to see how bad it is.

War.  Famine.  Rape. Abuse.

Broken families.  Broken hearts.

HIV/AIDS.  Malaria.  Cancer.

We all experience it in one way or another

…but there is hope.

Oh Great Light in whom there is no darkness, break into this night and shine like the dawn.

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“Your own righteousness will walk before you,
    and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.”

 

The Messiah.

God’s glory revealed.  Creation restored.  Perfect Kingdom come.  Perfect rest achieved.

That’s what righteousness refers to here.  The Hebrew word is tsedeq.

Justice.

Things set right.

Messiah.

 

Messiah before us.  Messiah guarding us from behind.  We have no reason to fear as we venture out to bring justice in this dark and broken world.  Messiah hems us in.

God of Love revealed in Christ.  May Your presence of perfect love surround us before and behind.  May this perfect love cast far away every fear that binds us.

 

 

 

 ***********************************************************************

 

 

 

“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and God will say, ‘I’m here.’
If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the finger-pointing, the wicked speech;
    if you open your heart to the hungry,
    and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted”

 

 

In the midst of the darkness and brokenness and shame, we find hope.

We find pieces slowly being put back together.

Shards of a kingdom’s lost glory gradually being aligned.

For wherever a burden is lifted, God says

    I AM here.

Wherever chains of addiction or abuse are broken, God says

I AM here.

Wherever we stop pointing fingers and placing blame

…on those people

…on that political party

…on a certain religion

…on those we hate

God says

I AM here.

Wherever there is food shared between brothers and sisters, some who have need and some who do not, God says

   I AM here.

Wherever we are spent.  Wherever we sacrifice.  Wherever we reject the myth of “more” to provide in abundance for the least among us, God says,

I AM here.

 

Oh God, gives us eyes to see where You are.  Give us ears to hear you call out that You are here.  Give us hands and feet to walk forward with boldness and open the doors that have been long locked to let you in.

 

 

 

 ***********************************************************************

 

 

 

 

“The Lord will guide you continually
    and provide for you, even in parched places.
   He will rescue your bones.”

 

 

Take heart, you who are weary.

Take heart, when you have lost your way.

Take heart, when even your bones feel dry and empty.

 

Your Messiah has come.

You are redeemed and called by name.

Light in the darkest of nights.

Hope bubbling up like springs in the wilderness all around.

“Then your light will break out like the dawn,
    and you will be healed quickly.
Your own righteousness will walk before you,
    and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and God will say, ‘I’m here.’
If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the finger-pointing, the wicked speech;
    if you open your heart to the hungry,
    and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted,
    your light will shine in the darkness,
    and your gloom will be like the noon.
The Lord will guide you continually
    and provide for you, even in parched places.
    He will rescue your bones.”

Isaiah 58:8-11