Transformation

Amanda MacQuarrie December 14, 2025 0 0

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Isaiah 35: 1-10 (NIVUK)

1 The desert and the parched land will be glad;
    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
    the splendour of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
    the splendour of our God.

3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
    ‘Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
    he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
    he will come to save you.’

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
    the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
    grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there;
    it will be called the Way of Holiness;
    it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
    wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there,
    nor any ravenous beast;
    they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
10     and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Water gushing forth in what was an arid wilderness,
Streams flowing in what was a desert,
Once burning sand now a cool pool,
Parched, arid ground, bubbling up now with springs,
A place where jackals prowled, now thriving with grass, papyrus and reeds…

Once sightless eyes, sparkling with joy at what they see,
Ears once silent, ringing full with singing voices,
Tongues once stilled and mute, shouting their joy…

What a reversal!
Where once was barrenness, death, silence, darkness —
Life gushes forth with a force all of its own.
And such is God’s power.

Where are the barren places in your life?
Where are you standing on parched ground?
What might water, and blossom, and life in abundance look like for you?

Thirst Quencher,
Sight Giver,
Life Breather,
Take the barren, arid nooks and crannies within me and around me,
And transform them,
That life abounds … again!  Amen.