4TH WEEK OF LENT

There shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create.

Do you know someone who prayed for something specific, like a pay raise? Maybe they were so focused on getting what they wanted that they couldn’t imagine that God wanted something even better for them—until he led them to a new job with not only more pay but more opportunity to grow.

Something similar seems to have happened to the Israelites. Through his prophet, God promised to create “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17). Bible scholars believe that this prophecy was given during the “Second Temple” period that followed the Babylonian exile. The chance to rebuild the great Temple of Jerusalem—where Jews believed that heaven met earth—was an occasion of immense rejoicing, hope, and promise for Israel. So a new heaven and earth might have sounded a little bit unnecessary, or at the very least confusing. Wasn’t the rebuilt Temple more than good enough?

The Israelites were excited about being brought back from exile. However, maybe they were so focused on what was happening in the moment that they missed the immense hope and promise of what God was saying to them. It was as if their idea of the length, height, and depth of God’s love was limited by the length, height, and depth of the Temple.

How often do you settle for a smaller vision for your life or your loved ones than what God promises? We are all susceptible to this pitfall because we don’t see our world and all its possibilities the way God does. But that doesn’t mean that our expectations have to remain small or shrink even more when disappointment comes. Even when we can’t see it, we can trust that God is working in our lives and in the world today. He will bring to fulfillment all of his promises—including, someday, a new heaven and a new earth!

Whether you are satisfied with your life or whether you are hoping for change, don’t miss the immensity of the vision that God casts in the pages of Scripture. His love and his promises far exceed what we imagine for ourselves and our loved ones.

“Jesus, help me to rejoice and take comfort in all your promises.”

Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
John 4:43-54
Isaiah 65:17-21

WORD AMONG US