Scripture:
Isaiah 61:1-7 NKJV
[1] “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; [2] To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, [3] To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” [4] And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. [5] Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. [6] But you shall be named the priests of the Lord, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast. [7] Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.
Observation:
I have been thinking about these scriptures for a few days. It’s been heavy on my heart. I know it’s something I have written about several times, but it never changes the impact it has on my life when I read it and just take it all in. As the scripture begins anyone who has been a student of the word for any length of time can see who is being identified. Through Isaiah obedience to the LORD the picture that is painted here in these verses, is one of the Messiah, as we can see through what is being said, Isaiah was not just talking about himself, because he had been anointed speak to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, free the captivities, and proclaim liberty for those who found themselves in bondage. The fact that Jesus Christ stood up in the synagogue and read these verses in front of his home town confirmed this as HE rolled the scroll up and proclaimed, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” HE stopped right there, the whole atmosphere changed. HE didn’t move forward for a reason; the verse that followed would have set the room on fire, “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our GOD; and comfort those who mourn, as i read that the word mourn just stands out to me. It honestly runs my mind to what is commonly known as the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 4, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be conformed.” The word console that is found in verses 3 of Israel 61 means exactly that. Continuing to read that verse, I see a phrase that I can understand, “To give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD that HE may be glorified.” What I want us to see in all this is who is doing what. The first 9 words in this chapter say so much, and more specifically, the first 6 words. Through those words we can see who is doing the work. Who is given beauty, joy, and praise, who is doing the planting. I honestly like that word p I anti see it as a permanent thing. Especially when the LORD plants. As we move to verse 4, what I see is restoration, “And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.” This picture is not a small one, it’s a generational restoration. It’s not someone that just affects the one who mourns but generations to come. Taking away shame, making them a servant, removing confusion, rejoicing in the riches of the Gentiles. What a powerful reminder of redemption. This sounds like a permanent restoration like once it’s done it can not be undone.
Application:
I remember where he brought me from. I remember a life that I had burned to the ground. Every attempt to do anything right just led to another wrong. What I found in my efforts is that I was powerless, and the only answer was surrender. Everything I touched turned to rubble. Over the years and at different points I could hear HIM calling me, but it wasn’t until it was all a pile of ashes that I was willing to hand it to HIM, and what HE has done with ashes has blown my mind. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that my life is perfect. But HE is steadily restoring me. One thing I know is that you never realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. You see the life HE has planned for you is bigger than you could ever imagine. HE is the master craftsman able to make a beautiful picture out of nothing but broken pieces. We hand HIM what remains of the life we thought we wanted. What we find HIM doing is bringing beauty from ashes, joy from a spirit of heaviness. HE is honestly never done. HE will make a mosaic out of the broken pieces if we are only willing to turn loose of them. HE is the LORD of restoration. Right now as you read this HE is shaping a broken piece of your life so that it fits perfectly into a picture you won’t see until you step back and take a broader look. There is so much that goes on under the surface before the fruit is seen. Roots have to be set and solid before the surface is broken through. When HE says beauty from ashes all HE is asking is for us to take our hands off of our lives, give it to HIM you see what happens when your hands try to fix it, just another bonfire, and one more pile of ashes. But that’s not who HE is. Redemption and restoration are in HIS hands, but you will have to get your hands out of the way.
Prayer:
Father, you are the only one who can do anything with what we offer you, and honestly what we offer you is just a pile of ashes, it’s nothing. But you are so much bigger than the nothing we offer. Today we pray that you paint a beautiful picture out of our broken pieces. That’s something that only you can do. We pray that those who think they are something see exactly who you are, and those who know exactly how broken we are would be placed where you would have them be. All I offer is empty hands. I thank you for your Holy Spirit, and give you the first place in my life. I’m so grateful that you didn’t give up on me, and never will. I am nothing without you, and can do nothing good if it were not for you. What an amazing GOD you are. You have taken my broken life and built an amazing picture with it as I stand back and look at what you have done, I am forever in awe and wonder. Thank you for your presence in my life. Its in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen.