Thank you for taking time for this TAKE 5 written version of encouragement and challenge from God’s word
After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans worked slowly to rebuild. One of the most hardest hit areas was the lower Ninth Ward, where for years after Katrina, residents lacked access to basic resources. Burnell Colton worked to change that. In November 2014, he opened the first grocery store in the lower Ninth Ward after Katrina.
“When I bought the building, everyone thought that I was crazy,” Colton recalled. But “the very first customer cried ‘cause she…never thought the neighborhood would come back.” His mother said her son “saw something I didn’t see. I’m glad he took that chance!”
In Isaiah 41:18 we read…
“I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.”
God enabled the prophet Isaiah to see an unexpected future of hope in the face of devastation. Here through the Prophet Isaiah, God is promising to provide water to those in need and that it will be abundant. What a picture of HOPE for the people as the desert becomes a garden and the people in need recognized that, “…the hand of the Lord has done this” (verse 20).
We are living in times of uncertainty. All around us are problems, difficult people, and an atmosphere that is negative and dangerous. If we focus on all that is going wrong around us, we can loose hope. Our focus needs to be on what God has done, is doing, and what He can do. God is still restoring and at work. He is working through the promises in His word, through prayer and through trusting him by faith.
We are not to fear but to have hope, because he has promised to, “…uphold (us) with (His) righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
What do you need to “see the hand of the Lord do” in your life? Write it down, pray through it, and trust him to meet that need and to restore hope once again.
Have a great day and week looking to God for all that you have need of. God Bless!