Desperate For Redemption

Isaiah 61:1-3.

1The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3to grant to those who mourn in Zion- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

I have always loved this passage of scripture. There is something about it that when I read it, it leaves me in awe of and filled with the power of the gospel.  I think it is the confidence and tenacity with which Isaiah declares that the Lord has anointed him and is going to use him to further God’s kingdom.  I, too, know that God has called me to minister to his children in Uganda and I eagerly wait with my eyes set on Him, knowing that He has complete knowledge of everything that will take place this summer. What a blessing to know that He has gone before me and I am not alone. 

I was reading over this passage before I left because I feel like it captures my heart for what I long to see the Lord do among the nations. When I came to the end of verse 3, it marked the end of the often quoted passage with which I had become familiar. I began to wonder why the rest of the passage was never included. While I cannot claim to have mastered the meaning behind the whole passage, I feel like every time I read the passage God grants me a greater understanding of what it means and how it relates to what and where He has called me.  With that being said, I continued reading to verse 4 and had no idea what it was talking about or how it could apply to anything. Then I began to pray that the Lord would grant me further understanding as I felt that He had directed me to this passage.  I read the passage again, and immediately the Lord gave me an understanding of His word. I’m not sure why I was so surprised. It really challenged me to start praying with full expectation that God can and will answer my prayers when my heart is pure and set on Him. 

Verse 4 They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

So, the Lord showed me that verse 4 was not about actual physical structures that were destructed, but rather the lives of individuals who were formerly in ruin but since they received “a beautiful headdress…the oil of gladness…the garment of praise,” now they are “oaks of righteousness” and are being redeemed “that he may be glorified.” I love the words in the verse that point to the redemptive ways of our God… “build up…raise up…repair.” To me, the picture of the Lord redeeming the poor, brokenhearted, captives and bound is overwhelmingly beautiful. Immediately after reading the verse a second time, the Lord showed me that he was going to use me to bring His name forth in Uganda, that the former devastations might be redeemed, that the ancient ruins might be rebuilt.  Uganda has been devastated by the acts of the LRA (refer to my last post to read about what the LRA or Lord’s Resistance Army has done in Uganda) and now the Lord seeks to restore villages, restore girls who have been raped and restore boys who have been forced to murder their own family and friends. Now, the Lord desires that the people would not only be reconciled to Him but that they would be reconciled to each other.  And the picture becomes even more beautiful when we realize that we were once orphans, captive to our sin and without any hope and the Lord redeemed us and now uses you and me to help restore others to Him. Thank you Lord for including me in what you are doing among the nations.

Please join me in praying for the reconciliation of the Ugandan people first to God and second to each other.