Isaiah 41:13-20
For I am the LORD your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,
new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
and reduce the hills to chaff.
You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,
and a gale will blow them away.
But you will rejoice in the LORD
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
“The poor and needy search for water,
but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the LORD will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.
I will put in the desert
the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland,
the fir and the cypress together,
so that people may see and know,
may consider and understand,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
• The first part of the reading today contains repeated use of the first person pronoun, “I,” as God addresses those who are fearful and afraid: “Do not fear . . . do not be afraid . . . do not fear.” God’s promise is simple: “I am the Lord your God . . . I will help you . . . I myself will help you.”
• Recall a time recently when you have dealt with fear. What were you afraid of? What emotions were associated with your fear in that situation? In what tangible way(s) did you experience the “help” of God? Have a conversation with God about what you have uncovered within yourself related to that experience.
• As usual, when God does a new thing, all of the created order is involved. Deserts which had been dry become fertile with flowing water. Barren wastelands grow vegetation of all kinds. These symbols powerfully tell of God’s work in our lives.
• Consider your own experience of dryness of soul or barrenness of spirit. Can you see something growing within you now in a space that was once barren or dry? What response to God would you make for this new life where previously there was only dry land?
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