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 A collective reflection on God’s grace and our chances for renewal Tuesday, March 11, 2025 |
Smoothing rough places Isaiah 40:1-5 My daughters have a plastic container full of kinetic sand. It’s easier to clean up than real sand, but just as satisfying to play with. Pressing it into a mold results in smooth and defined shapes. In just a few minutes, a toy plastic shovel can level the bumpy and hilly texture of the entire container. If only it were that easy to smooth the rough places inside us. Sin has sown ugliness and turmoil everywhere, causing all kinds of pain and struggle from which it can seem like there’s no escape. Yet that’s just what God promised would come when he gave his prophetic word to Isaiah. Isaiah saw that God was going to make a way through the wilderness. Words of comfort and healing would take the place of consequences and punishment. The barren, pockmarked landscape of the soul would be restored. God would reveal himself in all his glory. Hundreds of years later, Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled by two individuals. First came John the Baptist, who would literally walk out of the wilderness and preach with urgency about the coming Messiah. He was followed by the Messiah himself – Jesus Christ. He healed the sick, lifted up the shamed, encouraged the destitute, and humbled the great. He died a horrific and ignoble death on a cross, but was raised to a perfectly restored life three days later. When once it was impossible to find a way to God through the wilderness of sin, Jesus made the way. It leads from destruction to glory. It cuts through chaos to peace. It’s still available today for those who long for it. Have you found Jesus’s path through your wilderness? Where do you need him to smooth the rough places in your life? By Allison Antrim Lent beckons us, a time for looking inward, a spiritual refresh. We’re asked to walk into the ‘desert’ with Jesus. It sounds empty, a wasteland, but it’s often in desert spaces that we can encounter God most clearly. Like Jesus’ forty days alone, we’re invited to shed the clutter of our lives and face what’s deep inside. This week’s reflections will delve into what the desert means in scripture and spiritual stories, how this time of seeming nothingness can actually be full of God’s giving, testing, and close connection. We’ll ponder how the desert, where things are scarce, shows us how much God really provides, and how being alone can make us see his constant presence. We invite you to let the ‘desert’ become a holy place for growing spiritually and encountering God. |
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