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 might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not
judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give
decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of
his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash
around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down
with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down
together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near
the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover
the sea.
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the
peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
Isaiah 11:1-10
In these early prophecies of Isaiah,
the prophet pronounced judgment on the people of Judah. They had forsaken God.
They had turned to false gods. Their country was on the verge of collapse. Yet,
in the middle of some very strong words, God gives Isaiah this beautiful
vignette of peace and tranquility beyond their imagination.
As you drink in these words from Isaiah
11, think about the turmoil in your own life. Isaiah wasn’t speaking about
peace in a peaceful time. Isaiah’s words were meant for people who were
confused. These were people who had tried everything that they knew to do, yet
couldn’t make things any better. I can relate to those people at times.
Rather than scolding them one more
time, God casts a vision for their future (and ours). Life on this earth is not
all that there is to life. The problems that we face today are not problems
that will last forever. Ultimately, Jesus will usher in an unprecedented time
of tranquility. There will be no diplomatic cables appearing on Wikileaks then.
There will be no negotiations. The Savior will merely declare it so. Enemies
will be vanquished. Tensions will be released. Natural rivalries will be turned
into unnatural friendships.
While we haven’t seen these times,
those of us who belong to Christ have tasted them. The outward workings of
redemption are yet to come. Humanity and all creation long for that day. But,
today those who belong to Christ can experience this kind of peace in our
hearts.
The Bible tells us “Do not be anxious
about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). We can possess peace that is not rightfully ours,
by giving our problems and turmoil over to God.
God knows what we will experience in
Heaven. He also knows what we will experience when our problems are resolved.
God, in His grace, gives us the peace of a resolved problem, even while He’s
still working to resolve things.
What turmoil are you experiencing
today? What chaos needs to be brought into order? God is waiting to give you
His peace. You just need to give Him your problem.
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