Gladness Stretched to Capacity

Scripture — Isaiah 35:1-10 (NRSV)

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and shouting.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp;
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
but it shall be for God’s people;
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Devotion

I’m certain most of us, if not all of us, are captivated when we watch magic shows. We know magic is not real, but the illusions are what intrigue us. When I was growing up as a child, there was a man on TV we watched called David Copperfield, and boy, did his magic tricks keep us glued to the television. As we read today’s text something has occurred; it’s not magic, but if you didn’t know who God is, you might think magic had occurred. It’s a beautiful something: the prophet Isaiah is announcing how nature and people both experience relief bringing gladness in an amazing way.

The effects on creation/nature show miracles occurring within the wilderness, the wasteland and the desert. Whoever heard of water in a wilderness? Whoever heard of streams in a desert? Yet this fascinating experience has occurred, for the miracle is the waters turning wilderness into wetlands.

These miracles aren’t limited to just nature; they continue with the strengthening of human weak hands and the firming of feeble knees. We need our hands and knees to accomplish many daily tasks. Something as simple as writing this devotion requires that I use my hands. I often think of the many tasks we do with our knees and one task taken for granted is walking on stairs. How many of us consider how much we use our knees for walking on stairs—mind you, I wouldn’t even mention the squats at the gym. Therefore, you can envision the joy of the individual who has been lame and now has experienced this miracle of their knees being strengthened to enable many activities once prohibited.

In all of these miracles, hearts have come to experience joy, unspeakable joy, as God adds His spin. As it says, God will “come with vengeance,” God will come to the place, and God comes to save.

As I read v.4, my mind ran straight to superhero movies such as The Avengers, Superman, and Spiderman, who the media has allowed us to imagine as heroes coming at the right time to save a person(s) in distress and vengeance. How much more powerful and sustaining would it be for our Almighty God to come and save? Not fiction but real, true, and strong!

As leaders sometimes we experience times of weakness and we long for the Lord to strengthen us; we long for physical, emotional, and spiritual strength. We may become weak due to the many tasks on our to-do list, such as taking care of young children, assisting elderly parents, finding time to exercise, cleaning and taking care of the house, and managing ministry duties at church.

We may also long for God to come and vindicate us when we are challenged by fellow co-workers in our office or job. When we are trying our best yet fairness seems dismal, just when we feel like giving up hope, God comes to save us.

In verses 5 & 6 of Isaiah 35, the joy overflows as persons whose eyes were blinded have the opportunity for their eyes to be opened, receiving sight! Ears once stopped are no longer deaf. The lame can now walk; they are so excited that one can envision them leaping around like deer in amazement. Furthermore, tongues which were dumb are not only loosed but free to sing. A sudden progression from silence to shouting to singing—no longer are they muted, for now they can sing!

Isaiah portrays the movement from fear to hope; people who were in despair, fearful, and depressed now have an immense sense of hope. Hope has been revealed as the prophet says, “God will come….”

Finally, in the ending of this passage, we see the movement of returning home. There is a highway, which reflects long travel. Only the redeemed and ransomed have the privilege of making this travel which is considered a ‘holy way’ to Zion, returning to Yahweh, to I AM. This is a geographical return to Zion and a spiritual return of a heart once torn with sorrow being replaced with joy.

Do you remember any time in your life as a leader when situations caused you to be stuck in despondency and God provided a supernatural miracle that called you back to Him? It’s a call of return to greater intimacy, this ‘holy way’’ to Zion, returning to Yahweh, to I AM.

Here are so many reasons Isaiah highlights to be joyful, as we observe the move from desolation to fruitfulness, fear to hope, and silence to singing. We give thanks to our Almighty God for this amazing restoration and birth of joy.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: God: The Source of Life, Knowledge, and Wisdom (Isaiah 28ff.).