SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 32
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. [Isaiah 32:2-3]
A day is coming when people will finally get it, when folly will be replaced with wisdom, when closed minds will be opened, when people are committed to goodness and justice.
That day is not yet, we do not see that in the world right now; but God is working by His Spirit in this barren, broken world to restore health and life and blessing.
Right now, the fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks…
But this is only temporary, …till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. [Isaiah 32:14-15]

There is no doubt in my mind that things in this world are not the way they’re supposed to be, that we were made for so much better than this.
I cannot prove it, but I feel it deep within me.
Sadly, our world is so messed up that what is abnormal (injustice, violence, greed, selfishness) seems normal.
Many people have given up hope for a better world, so they now just live for themselves and for momentary pleasure and satisfaction.
But I do not want to surrender to this, I cannot let go of the dream this prophecy speaks of.
When the fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. [Isaiah 32:17]

Jesus promises that those who earnestly desire live for God’s better world – righteousness and peace – will be satisfied: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. [Matthew 5:6]
I long for this day, when people finally get it, our eyes are opened to the way things ought to be, and we are willing to listen and live according to it!
But the way to hunger and thirst for this is not just to sit back and wait for it.
No, the Spirit is working out this fruit of righteousness in us; the evidence that we are in step with the Lord in His plan for a better world is that we are already striving to live that way now.
The Spirit has been poured upon us from on high and the fruit (evidence) of that is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. [Galatians 5:22-23].

Isaiah describes what God is working towards – His kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven.
Do you long for this day, do I; if so, then I need to join in with the Spirit now, and pursue the things that He is pursuing – love, joy, peace, etc.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. [Galatians 5:25]

PRAYER:
Lord, help me not to surrender to the spirit of the age, living for self and pleasure. Ignite within me a renewed determination to live for justice and peace and joy and goodness!