The prophet Isaiah lived through some of the darkest days of God's people — days when they were divided, harassed, and lost. During his life, the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell, and the seeds that would one day destroy the Southern Kingdom of Judah were already taking root. Isaiah could see the storm gathering on the horizon — judgement, exile, heartbreak. He worried and wept and warned the people about what would surely happen if they didn't repent, but he couldn't hold back the flood of destruction. It wasn't enough to see and sound the alarm. Isaiah was powerless to fix it. I resonate with Isaiah, and maybe you do too. I see the destruction in my own life — poor decisions, difficult relationships, words and actions that can't be taken back. Whether by my own doing or the choices of others, I feel the weight of sin's shackles. I look at the world around me and feel helpless to stop it all from unraveling. I see pain, injustice, division, and I ache because I can't set it right...not for myself, not for my family, or for anyone else. But, for all the weeping and words of warning, Isaiah also spoke words of hope to the helpless heart. The Spirit of God filled his imagination with a vision for the solution to it all. Isaiah saw a Redeemer, a champion, one who would step into our devastation and do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Of all the
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE1OTA3Ng==