Isaiah 35 begins with the parched land
rejoicing and ends with the ransomed of the Lord returning to Zion
with song as they are overtaken by joy and gladness. In the in-between are
feeble hands and weak knees and fearful hearts that long for redemption. But
since the chapter begins and ends with a promise Isaiah can say, “Be strong” to
the feeble and weak and fearful of heart instead of “suck it up”. The ability
to “be strong” comes from anticipating the promise as if it already was so that
hands and knees become steady even when the ground is shaking. The blind are
still blind. The deaf still cannot hear. The lame still limp and the dumb are
still speechless. It is as simple and as difficult as that because we are more
accustomed to “suck it up” than “be strong” or perhaps think they are the
same thing and therefore are always running too fast in the present for the
future to catch up. But when God’s ultimate vision becomes our eternal imagination
the future bursts into the present like a rainstorm in the desert and the blind
see and the deaf hear and the lame leap and the dumb shout for joy. What will
be already is when by faith we stop “sucking it up” and allow the future
gladness to overtake us.
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