29 November – 5 December 2015.
Sometimes when my sons come home after a long day, they stumble through the front door, lie on the floor, and let out a big sigh of relief: they are finally home! Home is a place of peace and safety, a place to rest from all the hectic things outside. To finally be home is to finally be able to relax.
Isaiah 35 talks about a very similar feeling: the hope to finally be home. For the Jews who spent so many years wandering, and for those who had lived in captivity and exile, their great dream was to finally have a home, a place where they could let out that sigh of relief and finally rest.
And so we see here the prophet’s vision of great hope, that one day the wanderers will find their promised home. A place of peace, protected from violence and wild animals (v. 9), a place where “those with fearful hearts” can hear God say to them: “Be strong, do not fear” (v.4). A place where those with legs tired from walking can rest; and where those who are weak from work can finally find their comfort.
In this wonderful home, all our wounds are healed, all the dirt and sadness of our lives is washed away, and all beauty is restored. This home will be so great, that the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will dance for joy, and the mute will sing out God’s praises (vv. 5–6).
But how can we find this wonderful home? How can we get there? The prophet talks about a road, a highway that leads us there. For us Christians, we know that the name of that road is Christ. Jesus is not only the Truth and the Life, he is also the Way. He is the road that leads us to this promised home: a home where (as v. 10 tells us) “everlasting joy will crown our heads. Gladness and joy will overtake us, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
Are you tired today? If you are, don’t lose sight of where the road is taking you. We will soon be in a place where we can finally be at rest with God!
Pastor Stephen Lakkis
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