Streams in the Desert {Part 2}

Behold

The sky was slowly waking up, a pale white light rising over the horizon. The clouds shifted from darkness and became awash with color. I gripped my mug of tea a bit tighter, breathing in the mercy that was coming. 

For weeks after Gwendolyn went Home, this became my routine. I would wake early (had I even slept?), steep a bag of vanilla rooibos in my travel mug, and walk through the stillness of our camp home toward the river. A new building was under construction, and I would sit on the balcony amidst the tools and sawdust, watching creation wake up and do what it was—tell the glory of the Creator.

I was beholding without fully comprehending it, and the comforting stillness of those moments still linger with me ten years later. 

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Isaiah 35 is a promise of the impossible happening. The desert blooms; the wilderness becomes a forest; the empty sahara becomes bountiful, green, and lush, nourishing life all throughout it. Take a moment to read through this chapter. Can you hear the gladness of the promise? 

In verse 4 we see the catalyst for the transformation:

“Say to those who have an anxious heart, 
‘Be strong; fear not! 
Behold, your God 
will come with vengeance, 
with the recompense of God. 
He will come and save you.’”

It is the involvement and actions of the Holy God of Israel that brings a complete change to a barren wasteland. Let’s look at the three components of this promise.

Freedom from Anxiety

Every moment after the fall of Adam and Eve from paradise has been filled with anxiety for mankind. In Genesis 3, we find Adam and Eve fearful and hiding from the presence of the Lord, and that trend has been inherited by all humanity. We know all too well that we live in an incredibly broken world. Things that should never happen, do. And as finite creatures that cannot predict or know the future, we easily fall into fearful anxiety of what may come. 

Isaiah recognizes this. In Isaiah 35:3 and the beginning of verse 4, he paints a portrait of humanity: weak hands; feeble knees; anxious heart. 

Picture a woman dejected, completely exhausted and worn. Her hands hang limply at her sides. She crumbles to her knees, in a posture of abject humility and brokenness. Her eyes have run dry from tears, but her heart beats heavy with fear. She cannot lift herself out of this. That is the depiction of the Hebrew words from chapter 35. 

Then a message of hope breaks through: “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”  

Victorious strength in place of weakness. Courage that rises up from brokenness. Confident hope in place of fear. That is what is given by God. It is His presence, not His gifts, that shine brightly in the gloom. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (James 4:18). God is love. And with Him, there is no fear. In His presence, anxiety cannot exist. When we come to Him—weak, feeble, and anxious—He casts all of that away. 

Do you also see the horizontal relationship happening in these verses? It does not say, “Strengthen your weak hands, make firm your feeble knees. Tell your anxious heart…” It invites us to become messengers of God’s freedom to others. We encourage one another. We take each other by the arm and lift one another up. We speak into the anxiety and fear of others. And we remind them of our God—the perfect One—the one who comes to save.

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Erin Cushman is the founder of Hope Mommies. She is married to Blair and has four children: Gwendolyn, who has been with Jesus since October 20, 2010, Malacai, who is three, Gemma, born in June 2015, and Baby Cush. She loves photography, gardening, cooking, reading, playing with her children, and especially loves when all those things combine.

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