“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners.”
-Isaiah 61:1,2
As some of you may know, I am graduating from college in a month. Yes, in a MONTH. I feel equal amounts of terror and excitement in my chest.” The weight of my emotions feels tangled and heavy. I am in a season of transition, not at all knowing what my future may hold.
Although the unknown seems to be uncharted territory for many, I have found that it is something I long for. I know deep inside of me that there’s more to the reality my eyes present. I seek to know it more. As I fix my gaze on the birds of the sky, I am in awe of their Creator. As I look intently at the rocks in the gravel, I contemplate how there is molecularly more to what I see. This longing is simply a hole that only Jesus can fill, the One who came and is coming back again.
Isaiah 61 is spoken by Israel’s prophet during their captivity to Babylon. Focusing on their own present suffering and despair, the people expected Isaiah’s promise to come into fruition sooner than later. Yet all of them died before true freedom had come, the freedom of Jesus Christ.
John 4:21 records Jesus reading Isaiah 61 in his hometown’s synagogue. He makes the powerful claim “today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”, as he knows the gory fate of his earthly future. Because Jesus died and was resurrected, the power of the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Jesus came to show us a life of authentic surrender, a life that saw each person as worth dying for. Jesus did not portray freedom as a systemic fight, but an underlying force, transforming the world from the inside out.
Isaiah proclaims, 700 years before Jesus’ coming…
“They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.”
As followers of Jesus, we are called to be ministers of restoration and renewal. To display the light of joy and praise, shining light in the darkest of places. Where we walk, bodies are healed. Where we walk, lives are restored. Where we walk, towns are brought back to life. Isaiah states, “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and the garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before ALL nations.”, and God has given me the opportunity to witness this first hand. I am blessed to be the planter of seeds, watching beauty sprout from ashes, joy sprout from mourning, and praise sprout from despair.
This calling is not an easy one to bear, and it is beyond any human understanding. Although I may be in a season of uncertainty, today I choose to accept what I do know. Not knowing is a life of adventure, embracing that God is my only true constant. I will continue to embrace this reality, willing to drop everything to follow him.
