Isaiah 30:15-18 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 30:15-18 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused Verse 16and said, "No! We will flee upon horses"- therefore you shall flee! and, "We will ride upon swift steeds"- therefore your pursuers shall be swift! Verse 17A thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you shall flee, until you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill.
Verse 18Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
Devotion
Here we are, approaching the end of the Lenten season. We have observed many forms of preparation for the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus in which this season culminates. We await the profound joy of Easter though many of us have celebrated it for decades. But this passage from the prophet Isaiah reminds us that God waits too. Do you think much about God waiting? This reminds me that I too often think of God waiting for me to get my act together, waiting for me to do what God wants me to do and be the person God wants me to be. But what Isaiah wanted Judah and us to know is that what God really waits for is not to judge us, but to love us. As our hymn says, “Divine, eternal lover…you meet us all around.” And as we are met, we are enfolded in the arms of God, who will always wait for us.
Prayer
O God, we give thanks that your welcoming waiting sustains us in our journey of faith. Amen.