Isaiah 55:10-13 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 55:10-13 on biblegateway.com
Verse 10For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, Verse 11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Verse 12For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Verse 13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Devotion
For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace. This is hard to believe. Our world seems to have everything but joy and peace. And yet God promises that God’s word will not return empty, that it shall succeed and nourish all like the rains nourish creation.
What would it take for you to really believe this promise and to live its truth? While the terrors and struggles of the world rage on, we’re sent out in the joy of God to love, to work for justice, to bring about the kingdom, with the joy of God as our sustenance and strength. This isn’t a fanciful or naļve idea that all will be well in an instant, but rather a radical call to do the work of God with God, always rooted in God’s deep joy.
Prayer
Holy one, send us out in your joy that we may participate in the work of your word, helping love to sprout and grow abundantly in all places. Amen.