Hello. Is anybody out there really reading this ? I am writing and reflecting, but I'm not sure whether anyone will ever see my notes or find my collected thoughts. Things have been pretty rough lately--ongoing wars, poverty, violence perpetrated on the poor and marginalized, people are sick and children are homeless. I'm tired of trying to help those in need bacuse there are so many of them. They just We are God's people, and yet, we seem to have been walking in a land of darkness for a long time. I wonder sometimes if life will ever be any better? How does one encourage his own people when they are forced live in a land that is not their home and serve masters not of their choosing?
These words are my paraphrase of what I think must have been running through Isaiah's mind as he struggled to find a way to encourage the Jews while they lived under foreign oppression. He found his hope in the words of an ancient prophecy--the promise of a Messiah--one anointed by God to bring hope to a hopeless world. The question was: Would the people be able to look up from their drudgery long enough to glimpse the light of heaven shining in a dark and cold world?
How do you find and hold onto hope when life is depressing and the future looks as bleak as the past? How do you see and understand Isaiah's words as Christmas approaches again?
Pastor Paul
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For several years, the painting below has given me hope:
http://www.abcgallery.com/I/italy/cossa3.html
Oftentimes, like the snail , I stay in my shell, locked by and focused on what seem to be negative circumstances.When, all the while, above my head, is God, working wonders.
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