Hurried Hearts

Isaiah 35:4-7a
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you."
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water...

Reflection

Say to those who are fearful of heart... I don't know about you, but that meets me where I am.  I don't want to admit it, always, but I AM fearful of heart.  If that doesn't help you, if that doesn't speak TO YOU, maybe the Hebrew translation of this would be better suited: ble-yrEh]m.nIl. Wrma. A translation of this, closer to the Hebrew, would be: Say to the hurried of heart...

You know that racing feeling--the flutter of your heart.  Maybe when you were excited about something good.  But, also when you were excited about something not-so-good.  I think of that first phone call in which I found out I wasn't chosen for the job. It didn't help that they wanted to keep me in mind, "In case things didn't work out," with their chosen candidate.  My world felt turned upside-down.  I was the first of my classmates who had that phone call.  And, then the second time.  My ears were deafened to the support of my professors, pastors, and friends who told me there is a congregation who needs the gifts God has given me.  (After two rejections and watching almost every other classmate get at LEAST one offer, I wasn't so sure.)  My heart still races thinking about all of it. It's like I'm trying to swim (something I'm not great at) and the water is all muddy and thick, my body is exerted and my heart races in anticipation of what I'll see when I come out of that mud.  If you haven't ever felt like that, you're lucky, but be prepared because I think you probably will.

Isaiah uses great imagery in this passage--especially, for those of us who feel like we're swimming through mud: the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame will leap, the speechless will sing!  Even the destitute lands are promised healing as every dry and lifeless place bounds with water.

We are promised that our God will come and save us.  We no longer need to fear with racing hearts because God comes with vengeance.  That's not to say that God will come and smite those who've rejected our job applications.  Rather, to say that God will set things right. In God's kingdom, there is a place for each of us where we excel.  It's hard to not be fearful of heart when you're jobless (or underpaid or underemployed) and thinking of paying school loans, medical bills, rent, for kids needs, for groceries, etc.).  The prophet Isaiah doesn't tell us how to do those things.  While, I'd be happier if he DID give us a guide to that sort of success, I am hopeful that things won't always be like this.  After all, Christ DID come and heal many sick, made the lame walk, raised Lazarus from the dead.  My hope is in the God who makes those things happen, who sends aid to those ravished by famine, drought, disaster.  My hope is in the God who places people in the world to care for it.  With a racing, hurried, fearful heart, my hope is in a God who will help me to not only walk out of my lame state, but to leap.

My Prayer Today
God, we thirst and we are sometimes blind to your actions of grace and love for the world.  Help us to see your hand in our lives.  Calm our hurried hearts, move our paralyzed legs, give sound to our stifled voices that we may live more fully into your kingdom on earth.  Amen.