Advent Devotion: December 11, 2023
Isaiah 40: 6-11
Do not be afraid to declare good news no matter where you find yourself. Isaiah is instructed by God to shout from the mountaintop good news within Jerusalem. Isaiah was not popular, he was outnumbered and often outcast within the society he was called to live in. But Isaiah still had to declare God’s word and wait for God’s word to manifest. Have you ever had to wait for a report from a doctor? A score on a test? A response in a negotiation? How did you brace yourself knowing that you would have to wait? How did you/do you wait? How does waiting look in your life? Yesterday we were encouraged to understand this text as words by which to live. May it be so today as well.
In this passage Isaiah compares people to grass saying that grass withers, but God’s word is eternal. It is good to know that we are not alone in our waiting. We, though individuals, are a collective humanity waiting for the breath of God to blow on us anew and for the power of God to gently gather from the margins those we have outcast. No matter your wait, may you experience the power of God in a way that causes you to shout good news and be transformed by God’s gentle power. I challenge you to experience power in waiting and wait in power.
God, help me embrace those I have placed in the margins and transform my mind so that I can accept your perfect powerful way. Amen
~Natarsha Sanders
Isaiah 40: 6-11
Do not be afraid to declare good news no matter where you find yourself. Isaiah is instructed by God to shout from the mountaintop good news within Jerusalem. Isaiah was not popular, he was outnumbered and often outcast within the society he was called to live in. But Isaiah still had to declare God’s word and wait for God’s word to manifest. Have you ever had to wait for a report from a doctor? A score on a test? A response in a negotiation? How did you brace yourself knowing that you would have to wait? How did you/do you wait? How does waiting look in your life? Yesterday we were encouraged to understand this text as words by which to live. May it be so today as well.
In this passage Isaiah compares people to grass saying that grass withers, but God’s word is eternal. It is good to know that we are not alone in our waiting. We, though individuals, are a collective humanity waiting for the breath of God to blow on us anew and for the power of God to gently gather from the margins those we have outcast. No matter your wait, may you experience the power of God in a way that causes you to shout good news and be transformed by God’s gentle power. I challenge you to experience power in waiting and wait in power.
God, help me embrace those I have placed in the margins and transform my mind so that I can accept your perfect powerful way. Amen
~Natarsha Sanders
