“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.” – Isaiah 61:10-11
Father, it is Monday and my tank is not as full as I had hoped. Your Word captures my attention this morning by taking me backward in order to point me forward. Isaiah’s words are 2,700 years old but they thrust upon my soul the reality of something awaiting me in my future. As the bride and her groom make their ways through their engagement period, I am awaiting the day of my full consummation with my Savior. You are beautifying Your bride, Jesus, and we sense the hour of embrace is nearly here. We long for you and are so hungry to become fully Your own with nothing to serve as a barrier between us ever again. I know this day is coming but I cannot deny that I am struggling to be content while I await it. Isaiah also mentioned a garden in his ancient words. Gardens are parcels of hope and faith. We have been tilled up as soil. We have received the seed of Your gracious salvation. You have brought us above the surface and have shown us that we have life and spiritual foliage. Yet, again, there is that waiting time. It is not yet here but we sense that Your harvesting is to be very soon. We long to be lifted up from this soil and taken inside by You so that we can bring pleasure to You. We know that we were planted, grown and will be harvested for Your good pleasure and this is what makes our hearts dance. It is Monday, and my tank is not as full as I had hoped it would be, but I can sense You pouring into me through the allure of Your precious Word.
Father, Isaiah said that You will cause “righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations”. I can scarcely fathom this moment when the King is reigning upon the earth and the national anthems of all the planet’s countries are replaced with a song of praise unto Jesus, Your Son. Right now, the people of this planet are so ridiculously removed from this future reality that it sounds like fantasy to my ears today. Yet it will come. All will praise Him. The nations will be glad in Him. His righteous name will be hallowed on this earth. You have promised to restore all that Adam relinquished in Eden. You, Lord Jesus, are making all things new and it is this iron-clad hope of my soul that allows me to await fullness like a bride awaits her wedding day. It is the pulse of Your promise which empowers me to live out today in patience as the gardener embraces the slow process of bringing forth the harvest. It is Your beauty which I have beheld by faith which compels me toward that day when faith will become a permanent fixture of our past as it gives place to sight. We will know as we have been known by You. We will understand in perfect clarity all that has been veiled by obscuring clouds of our limitations. You will reward our patience with Your presence. This is our thirst. This is our purpose. This is our passion. This is our pursuit…
…the glorious fulfillment of a promise from Father which cannot fail. It is Monday, and my tank is now full.
Praise the Lord as He has filled you again. He is so faithful and just – as we ask and wait He will answer!
I will trust Him as He works out His plans for you and me too!