Isaiah 55

Today’s devo passage was from Isaiah 55, and I have claimed it for myself. As I was reading it, I realized that many of the parts of the passage describe ideal situations that I want for our outreach. Verse 5 commands us to summon the nations that we do not know – Haiti is unchartered territory in my book, especially now with all the destruction; we are going to Port au Prince, right in the middle of worst destruction. Verses 8 & 9 are God reminding us that his ways are not our ways, his ways are higher, better, stronger, and more effective than anything we can ever think of. One of my prayers for this trip is that we are sensitive to what God desires with our time, our work, our words, and our intercession. I have never really evangelized before, and I am only slightly nervous (ha.), so verse 11 encouraged me a lot: the word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. How cool is it that God promises that our words will not be empty! Realizing this helps prepare me for the scariness of the unknown. We are also commanded to go out in joy and be led in peace (v. 12). What this looks like, I’m not exactly sure. “Going out in joy” seems to me that I need a good attitude, no matter what I run into – sleeping on the floor, no showers, little food, funny smelling water, bugs, hot weather, language barriers – being “led in peace” is to continue that attitude throughout all 3 weeks. Verse 13 is also an encouragement: it says that pine trees will grow instead of thorn bushes. At the very end it declares that all of this will be for the Lord. Amen. Please pray that we will follow God’s will, that our words (and dramas) will impact lives, that joy and peace will fill us the whole time, and that thorns will not create a barrier.