Cezanne, "Forest Road"Proper 11 (Year B)
Feeling crushed and bowed down today? Maybe this passage can put a glimmer of hope back in your eye.
The passage begins with our Heavenly Father saying, “Build me an interstate, because I want to get my people back to me, en masse, without delay.” He then says, “I live in a high and lofty place, but not only there. I also live with the contrite and lowly.” 'Contrite and lowly' can also be rendered “crushed and bowed down.” Where you are crushed and bowed down your Heavenly Father is right there with you.
One thing that can crush us is the persistent power of sin. Why do I keep doing that?! We get discouraged and eventually numb. Can I ever really change? Yes, because God is committed to changing me. Our Father says, “I have seen his ways but I will heal him.” Jacob, whose name meant “deceiver”, was renamed Israel, or “wrestler with God”. That's putting a more positive spin on the matter... Jacob was not saved because of his own merit, even in making a good decision. He was saved because of his Father’s determination to bless him. So Isaiah says here, it will be with us. "I have seen his ways but I will heal him."
What does this mean for us? “I will guide him, restore comfort to him, and heal him.” This is an invitation to walk the healing path of grace today in confidence. Can you do this? I see that glimmer in your eye...
The passage begins with our Heavenly Father saying, “Build me an interstate, because I want to get my people back to me, en masse, without delay.” He then says, “I live in a high and lofty place, but not only there. I also live with the contrite and lowly.” 'Contrite and lowly' can also be rendered “crushed and bowed down.” Where you are crushed and bowed down your Heavenly Father is right there with you.
One thing that can crush us is the persistent power of sin. Why do I keep doing that?! We get discouraged and eventually numb. Can I ever really change? Yes, because God is committed to changing me. Our Father says, “I have seen his ways but I will heal him.” Jacob, whose name meant “deceiver”, was renamed Israel, or “wrestler with God”. That's putting a more positive spin on the matter... Jacob was not saved because of his own merit, even in making a good decision. He was saved because of his Father’s determination to bless him. So Isaiah says here, it will be with us. "I have seen his ways but I will heal him."
What does this mean for us? “I will guide him, restore comfort to him, and heal him.” This is an invitation to walk the healing path of grace today in confidence. Can you do this? I see that glimmer in your eye...
