I have not spoken in secret, He continues, in some dark land; I have not told you to seek me in a waste place. I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay.
I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go, if only you would pay attention to me, then you would be like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Listen to me, pay attention.
I will make you a light of the nations,
so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.
I will keep you and give you,
saying to those who are bound, "Go forth,"
to those who are in darkness, "show yourselves"
They will not hunger or thirst,
nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion leads,
and will guide to springs of water.
Those who hopefully wait for me will not be put to shame.
Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Who among you fears the Lord,
and obeys the voice of His servant?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on His God.
My salvation will be forever, and
the Lord will comfort Zion and all her waste places,
her wilderness He will make like eden,
Her desert like the garden of the Lord.
I will set up My justice as a light for the people,
My righteousness is near, my salvation will be forever.
Listen to me, you people whose heart is My law;
Do not fear the reproach of man,
Nor be dismayed at their revilings.
Awake, awake, put on strength
I, even I am He who comforts you.
I read through Isaiah, chapter after chapter, at the oddest stolen quiet-ish moments, and He sustains me. He makes my doubting ridiculous, He brings my worrying low. He shatters all our fears of being alone, He answers all our questions of who and what and where and when with Himself.
Matt and I are coming out of a bit of a dark night of the soul-searching season, coming out on the other side with no more answers but far more confidence that He is who He says, that we are beloved, that He is close and powerful and more than enough, and that we will carry on through dark nights or mountaintops and we will be faithful, both.
Some of you are in there still, unsure the sun will rise.
Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but I doubt it will until that no longer matters.
For only in the Lord are righteousness and strength, only in the Lord is light and hope, and He is incapable--it is impossible for Him--to be unfaithful.
The all kinds of ugly and broken in our lives have NO impact, play NO effect on who He is and the truth that He sustains.
Keep waiting, dear ones. Keep waiting.
We must. not. quit.
Take on His righteousness and strength and steady on, no excuses, not waiting for the season to be over, but waiting upon Him, inviting Him in a million times, a million ways every day.
I don't know who this is for.
But maybe you do.
Maybe we be found faithful, as He will be.
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