I wonder... Is this how he feels...? stumped...?
There is hope... to be found in a stump...
Jesus rose out of the stump of a messed up nation...
Cut down in pride... arrogance... rebellion...
The cutting down seemed hard... complete... hopeless...
But God... He had other plans...
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him ---
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord ---
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:1-3
From the stump of a people... came the Savior of the world...
Only He didn't come in a fury... He didn't come with vengeance...
He came as a tender young shoot... from a broken down stump...
A fragile babe... God made flesh... laid in a feed trough...
Filled with compassion and mercy...
love and forgiveness...
grace and truth...
He brought healing... redemption... and reconciliation...
"Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out..."
Isaiah 42:103
The Savior... does not break... what's already bruised...
He does not snuff out... that which smolders...
From failures... brought on by self-deception and pride... the greatest victories can shoot up... if we graft our lives to His... live by His wisdom and understanding... His counsel and power... His knowledge... and fear of the Lord...
"... If a man remains in me and I in him,
he will bear much fruit..." ---Jesus
John 15:5
Things aren't always what they appear to be...
Hope... shoots forth... from a stump...
Father God... may the one who is stumped...
find his hope in You...
No comments:
Post a Comment