Isaiah 32

I had a sweet message this morning waiting for me on my phone. It was a message of encouragement to me, referencing Isaiah 32. It's one of my favorite books in the Bible because I feel so challenged and motivated when I read, and this scripture really got my attention this morning.

It's a call to the women of Jerusalem to prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit. It's basically calling them to give up their lives of complacency because the righteous King was coming to disturb their land. This scripture paints a scary image of what they were about to endure, but I'm sure it was a great lesson of what it really means to trust in the Lord. God was about to take them through some serious desert times, and a season of real mourning, but it was all in order to prepare them for the outpouring of His Spirit. And you see, that's the good part! Because you know what happens when the Lord lavishes His Spirit upon us? The things barren and desolate before will then become full of life and fruitful. And I love that! I need that! We all do.

So take a minute and read Isaiah 32:9-20 this morning. The NIV is great, but the following is from The Message:

"Take your stand, indolent woman!
Listen to me!
Indulgent, indolent woman, listen closely to what I have to say.
In just a little over a year from now, you'll be shaken out of your lazy lives.
The grape harvest will fail, and there'll be no more fruit on the trees.
Oh tremble, you indolent women. Get serious, you pampered dolls!
Strip down and discard your silk fineries. Put on funeral clothes.
Shed honest tears for the lost harvest, the failed vintage.
Weep for my people's gardens and farms that grow nothing but thistles and thornbushes.
Cry tears, real tears, for the happy homes no longer happy, the merry city no longer merry.
The royal palace is deserted,
the bustling city quiet as a morgue, The emptied parks and playgrounds
taken over by wild animals, delighted with their new home.
Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured down on us from above
And the badlands desert grows crops and the fertile fields become forests.
Justice will move into the badlands desert. Right will build a home in the fertile field.
And where there's Right, there'll be Peace
and the progeny of Right: quiet lives and endless trust.
My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood - in safe houses, in quiet gardens.
The forest of your pride will be clear-cut,the city showing off your power leveled.
But you will enjoy a blessed life, planting well-watered fields and gardens,
with your farm animals grazing freely."


I hope you've been as encouraged by this scripture as I am. Lets lift our heads today and know that this isn't just a cliche message of "everything happens for a reason..", but a true message and promise from God that He hasn't left us. Let us prepare ourselves for the outpouring of His Spirit, and trust Him that He is going to bless our lives.