Isaiah 35 (from “the Message”)
Wilderness and desert will sing joyously, the badlands will celebrate and flower—
Like the crocus in spring, bursting into blossom,
a symphony of song and color.
Mountain glories of Lebanon—a gift.
Awesome Carmel, stunning Sharon—gifts.
God’s resplendent glory, fully on display.
God awesome, God majestic.
Energize the limp hands,
strengthen the rubbery knees.
Tell fearful souls,
“Courage! Take heart!
God is here, right here,
on his way to put things right
And redress all wrongs.
He’s on his way! He’ll save you!”
Blind eyes will be opened,
deaf ears unstopped,
Lame men and women will leap like deer,
the voiceless break into song.
Springs of water will burst out in the wilderness,
streams flow in the desert.
Hot sands will become a cool oasis,
thirsty ground a splashing fountain.
Even lowly jackals will have water to drink,
and barren grasslands flourish richly.
There will be a highway
called the Holy Road.
No one rude or rebellious
is permitted on this road.
It’s for God’s people exclusively—
impossible to get lost on this road.
Not even fools can get lost on it.
No lions on this road,
no dangerous wild animals—
Nothing and no one dangerous or threatening.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.
The people God has ransomed
will come back on this road.
They’ll sing as they make their way home to Zion,
unfading halos of joy encircling their heads,
Welcomed home with gifts of joy and gladness
as all sorrows and sighs scurry into the night.
Anticipatience 
It takes a few reads for me to take in biblical (or most poetic) writings. This passage was no different. My predisposition toward the perceiving the not-so-pleasant seems to affect how these lyrical phrases lay on my soul. The words read didn’t have a bounce or echo in the chambers of my heart. Instead, they were flat. I clearly know something is wrong with me. My emotional temperature is lukewarm at best. As I commit to getting closer to God these next several weeks, I should probably spend this week awakening my soul to the sweet hymns and psalms God has richly made available. What’s funny is I appear to be taking steps to indicate I am in a stage of hope (I still fast and pray). But after reading this post, the question I ask myself is is my heart in it? Or am I simply going through the motions? This post is helping me to at the very least acknowledge this area of lack so that I can make the necessary adjustment. Thanks for that and please pray for me as I turn a plate for the next 5 days for this one thing I am believing God for. CaSandra M.
Hi CaSandra! I WILL pray for you, friend! Sometimes we have to just push through the times when we don’t feel any passion for God. We push through because there is hope at the end. I believe that because you are willing to try, God will honor your faith, even if it’s just a teensy bit of faith right now. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). Hold fast. Don’t waver. He’s faithful. 🙂