ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, PRIEST, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (MEM)

All may see and know . . . that the hand of the Lord has done this.

Imagine that you’re a Jew living in exile in Babylon, and you’re reading this passage from the prophet Isaiah. God has promised to make Israel into a strong and flourishing nation. You return to this passage again and again for reassurance that God is working on your behalf. But there are also days when doubts surface. When will God act as he says he will?

God did act—in time, the exiles returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple. But even this victory was temporary. Eventually, Israel was conquered once more, and the Temple was destroyed, never to be rebuilt again.

Yet all the while, God was at work, doing something far greater than the exiles at the time could have ever imagined. In the fullness of time, he sent his Son to inaugurate a kingdom that would last forever. Jesus came to save his people not just from invaders but from the ultimate enemies: sin and death.

We have been saved through our Lord Jesus, but we don’t see the final victory, either. We often experience the effects of sin, both in our hearts and in the world around us. We witness bodily death and we grieve our loved ones who have gone before us. Life is not always the beautiful flourishing garden that Isaiah describes.

But just as the exiles couldn’t foresee how God’s long-term plan would unfold, neither can we. We know that Jesus will come again to put things right once and for all. However, we simply can’t imagine how that will happen and what the world will look like when it is finally accomplished. Sometimes we may even doubt that it will ever come to pass.

We can’t peer into the future, but we can place our hope in the God who keeps his promises. One day—we don’t know when—we will see the final ending of God’s story of salvation. And we will know “that the hand of the Lord has done this” (Isaiah 41:20). So, like the Jewish exiles of so long ago, let the prophet’s words reassure you. Whatever your situation now, believe that God is doing something beyond your wildest expectations—and he will accomplish it!

“Father, I place my hope in your promises.”

Isaiah 41:13-20
Psalm 145:1, 9-13
Matthew 11:11-15