First Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11

God Works!

When was the last time you felt discouraged? Who helped you climb out of your "funk?"

10 For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky,
and doesn"t return there, but waters the earth,
and makes it bring forth and bud,
and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth:
it shall not return to me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do.

World English Bible

These verses come from Second Isaiah who wrote toward the end of the Babylonian exile. With the elite of the nation in a foreign land and Jerusalem in ruins, a general malaise fell over the Jews in Babylon. Not only were they cut off from their land, they could not worship their God through sacrifice. It was as if the heart was torn out of the people.

But the winds of change blew from the east. Cyrus led a vast Persian army on a westward conquest. Babylon was next. There was hope in the air. For the Jews, the idea of return could be thinkable!

Second Isaiah tried to capitalize on this hope. Yes, the people would return because it was God's command. As certain as the rain cycle, God's word had an effect. He was a God that worked in the lives of people!

When we are down, even at the point of despair, we should remember who our God is. He will give us hope even in the most dire times. Why? Because he is a God who works in our lives!

When was the last time God worked in your life? How did he act? How did he raise your hopes?