It has been a few weeks since many of us joined together for a night of worship at The Well. The evening was filled with singing songs of praise and worship, reading Scripture from Isaiah 61 and hearing amazing stories of repentance and restoration. It was a time of genuine fellowship and worship to our wonderful Lord and Savior.
So often, evenings like The Well can awaken our emotions. The songs and the stories are so inspirational and encouraging, they evoke feelings within us that awaken our hearts. While it is great to feel alive with the wonder, the awe and the heart-fullness of the evening, it would be a loss if that is all we carried away from that evening. We are called to “… love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark12:30)
Each brave lady that spoke had their own story of how they found themselves in ashes, despair, shame or grief. Each of their “captivity” stories are as different as each of the ladies are different. But each of their stories had one great similarity, the amazing release, reconciliation and restoration of God provided through His Word. The Scriptures were written by divine inspiration. It is through reading Scripture that we learn who God truly is and how much He truly loves us.
Isaiah’s prophetic words in chapter 61 are being spoken to a community of people who had recently been released from captivity in Babylon. They had been exiled for 70 years. Dreaming of their homeland. A land flowing with milk and honey. A land they had been given by the Hand of God. But their homecoming dream quickly dissolved as they returned to find the land of their dreams in shambles. They were a broken, impoverished, disheartened and grieving group of people. As they looked around and saw the devastation, they knew it was their own rebellious hearts that had brought them to this moment and therefore shame and guilt were added to their sorrow. Stories of the Israelites’ failures cover the pages of the Old Testament. Their rebellions began from the moment they were rescued from Egypt, yet God continually offered them forgiveness and restoration.
Into this despair the Spirit of God, through Isaiah the prophet, spoke these words:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. .... Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their inheritance. Therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. .... All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.
The prophet describes in beautiful language of a time coming that will erase the shame of their past. They will be once again be a nation and a people of great joy and celebration. A chosen people that will be called blessed. God had rescued them. He had released them from the hold of sin, shame and misery. He was going to now restore them, rebuild them and reconcile His relationship with them. They were no longer cast out into exile but He was welcoming them home to His love and provision.
Thankfully Isaiah’s word are not limited to the people who heard him that day. Seven hundred years later, Jesus read aloud part of this passage recorded in the scroll of Isaiah. After reading the words, Jesus announced, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:20) Jesus could read those words and make that claim because He was the Messiah. The One that Isaiah had prophesied that would bring comfort and reconciliation to all who trusted in His name. Jesus came to bring the kingdom of Heaven to Earth. Not fully as will occur in His second coming, but his birth, death and resurrection gives us a glimpse of that promise. We too can realize the prophecy of Isaiah. Jesus brings the prophecy forward to each of us.
I cannot relate to a time spent in actual captivity or exile. However, throughout my life, I have allowed sin to imprison me. Sometimes it has been the weight and the shame of my own sins that have tied me down and enslaved me. Other times it has been the sins of others forced upon me that caused me to carry guilt and shame that held me in bondage. And yet, there are other times of grief, sadness worry and fear that have tried to strangle life from me.
To all of these areas of my life and yours, Jesus steps in to the story. Throughout the Gospels, broken and hurting people come humbly to Jesus for healing and restoration. I can’t recall any of those stories where Jesus ask the person “why did you sin?” or “why are you broken?”. He heals them first and then says, “Go and sin no more”. In this, His first coming, He has brought the “year of the Lord’s favor”. His desire is that we would all come to Him and accept the gift he has accomplished for us. For someone living in shame, grief and despair it is truly life-giving to understand that the God of the universe, DESIRES YOU. He does not ask you, for He knows it is impossible for you, to clean up yourself before you come to Him. He died on the cross for you, so that you can be released from the captivity and be reconciled to Him.
Reconciliation leads to restoration. In Isaiah 61:3, once we have received His wonderful gifts we are transformed by God into oaks of righteousness, His planting, for His glory. God uses all of our past to create a life-giving soil that will allow us to grow into a deeply-rooted and beautiful oak tree that will stand as a witness to others of His amazing glory.
Our reconciliation with God is all His doing through the blood of Jesus. However, the next step of the journey, restoration, requires us to engage and participate.
My love of Scripture began many years ago. I had been a Christian for many years and had done countless Bible studies. From the outside, I looked like a good Believer but God knew my faith was shallow and weak. While God does not tempt us with sin, He does allow us to be tested so that our faith will be strengthened.
Unexpectedly I walked into a situation that could have derailed my family and my faith but fortunately, I was able to see the way of escape. (1Cor 10:13) It was at this time that I began a one-year reading through the Bible study plan. Reading the books of the Old & New Testaments, in their entirety and in context, broke open a faith I never knew was possible. For the first time in my life, I could see the whole Story. I could see and know the character of God as it is told chapter after chapter. His love for mankind became tangible to me.
Jen Wilkin in her book, "Women of the Word", makes two statements that have stuck with me since I read them: “The heart cannot love what the mind does not know” and “If we want to feel deeply about God, we must learn to think deeply about God.” He has given us His Word so that we can know Him better and in knowing Him better we learn to love Him more deeply. In our earthly relationships, the more we love someone, the more you desire to spend time with them and get to know them more fully. This has proven even more true for me as I have spent time in His word.
Life on this side of heaven will always be hard. It will always come with suffering and trials. Some caused by our own sin and some the result of a broken world. God has given us the Holy Spirit and His Word so that we can become oaks of righteousness. He has promised us that he will turn our mourning to gladness and our ashes to beauty.
In verse 11, Isaiah says, “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” When we plant a seed in the ground, it is very important to make sure the seed has the proper soil and the correct amount of water and sunlight to grow. As we study and immerse ourselves into God’s Word, we are doing the same thing. We are creating the environment necessary to grow our hearts into oaks of righteousness.
In the Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus promises fulfillment to all who seek to find Him. This is another amazing provision God has provided to us. If we don’t know what to read or how to pray, we can simply ask Him to help us. No other time in history have we been able to research and discover so much as it pertains to reading, studying and understanding Scripture. There are literally thousands of websites, podcasts, commentaries and Bible studies available to us on the internet.
I pray that you take the time to open the Word of God. Read it and let it transform your heart and your mind.