Advent Day 16: Too Good to be True (Isaiah 35:1-7)

Isaiah 35:1-7The desert and the parched land will be glad;  the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;  it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,  the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;they will see the glory of the Lord,  the splendor of our God.3 Strengthen the feeble hands,  steady the knees that give way;4 say to those with fearful hearts,  “Be strong, do not fear;your God will come,  he will come with vengeance;with divine retribution  he will come to save you.”5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened  and the ears of the deaf unstopped.6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,  and the mute tongue shout for joy.Water will gush forth in the wilderness  and streams in the desert.7 The burning sand will become a pool,  the thirsty ground bubbling springs.In the haunts where jackals once lay,  grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

Ever thought: "This is too good to be true?"  Maybe you have an incredible friend that loves to hang out with you and listen to everything you have to say.  Maybe you got some incredible news that was shocking (in a good way), like getting into the college of your dreams or getting a new car for your 16th birthday.  

In these verse we are given a glimpse of a world that seems way too good to be true.  It's amazing.  It's unbelievable!  The desert wilderness (which for Israel was a constant reminder of the Exodus) is going to be filled with water and produce new, joyous life.  The weak will be made strong.  The anxious hearts will be calmed.  The blind will be given sight.  The deaf will hear. The lame will be able to walk and the mute will be able to talk.

But daily life eats away at this vision.  We see suffering on the news.  We hear of another person being diagnosed with cancer.  We see another car accident from someone sliding of the snowy road.  Someone we know loses their job.  

Why bother with such "pie in the sky" dreams and visions?  

But focusing on the negative and rejecting the hope of God's promised future is actually a dream and a vision, too.  It's just negative.  Dreams and visions are not just positive.  Fear and anxiety are driven by thinking about what might happen, but that possible outcome is negative instead of positive.

If the owners of the Chicago Cubs chose to buy into the negative vision that the team was "cursed" then they would never have believed in the vision that they could actually win the World Series.  

This is not a simplistic idea of the power of positive thinking.  This is also NOT a belief in the power of humanity to come together and solve the world's problems if we could all just "get along."  It is a belief that God can and will bring about a new future and that we do not have to live in fear or anxiety.  

It is about hope and rest in God's love.  

Our current circumstances, both good and bad, are only temporary.  Our pains are merely fleeting and our joys are only a foretaste of the eternal joys ahead.  If God can create the world from nothing and raise the dead then He can make water spring forth from the desert and heal the brokenness of this world.

This Advent give your anxieties to God.  Choose to focus on His beautiful future and let Jesus raise your eyes to see the glory of the promised resurrected life.  

Heavenly Father, thank you for the prophecies of Isaiah that give us a glimpse of the future that you are preparing.  Take upon your shoulders our fears and anxieties so that we might be freed to live with hope and joy in this life.  Use us to share this vision with others and work to carry one another's burdens.  In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen. 

You can watch Pastor Jay Thorson's sermon on this text from this past Sunday at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church here: http://www.shepherd-hills.com/sermons/part-3-the-end-of-brokenness/