Slices
Prepare
Listen to one of the following pieces of music using an online search facility: ‘The Lark Ascending’ by Ralph Vaughan Williams; or ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ by Sam Cooke.
Bible passage
But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.’
15 ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
and those who laid you waste depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your children gather and come to you.
As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord,
‘you will wear them all as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.
19 ‘Though you were ruined and made desolate
and your land laid waste,
now you will be too small for your people,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
20 The children born during your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing,
“This place is too small for us;
give us more space to live in.”
21 Then you will say in your heart,
“Who bore me these?
I was bereaved and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.
Who brought these up?
I was left all alone,
but these – where have they come from?”’
22 This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
‘See, I will beckon to the nations,
I will lift up my banner to the peoples;
they will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their hips.
23 Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;
they will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in me will not be disappointed.’
24 Can plunder be taken from warriors,
or captives be rescued from the fierce?
25 But this is what the Lord says:
‘Yes, captives will be taken from warriors,
and plunder retrieved from the fierce;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and your children I will save.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.
Then all mankind will know
that I, the Lord, am your Saviour,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.’
Explore
Impossible things are done: exile to restoration. Unbelievable things happen because of the sovereign Lord. In this passage, Isaiah urges the reader to look beyond the current painful experience and keep an upward, hopeful perspective on things. The people felt that God had forgotten and forsaken them (v 14) but God never forgets us: as 2 Timothy 2:13 reminds us, God remains faithful even when we are faithless.
Living in the moment, being present with all our senses, is one way to manage and counter anxiety. But it could be argued, there are times when living in the moment, being present in the here-and-now, does no good. Think of someone who has had to live through traumatic times because of the actions of others.
I wonder if it would be beneficial or wholesome for them to linger in that present reality? We know that people need to move forward and look ahead. And yet, the trauma of a situation must have been an ever-present companion as it seemed to be with the children of Zion. In such circumstances we should hold fast to the hope that God, the Redeemer, will prevail (vs 25,26). Unbelievable things can happen, and will happen, because of the Sovereign Lord who is prepared to make them happen!
Respond
Recall a time when something seemingly impossible or unbelievable happened, and thank God for what he did and who he is.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Esther 8–10; Luke 13
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the SU Board of Trustees as they meet today. Among other agenda items members will be approving the Trustees’ Annual Report. Give thanks for all that report represents of God’s faithfulness and the ministry of the movement.
