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Transformed Imaginations
Imagination (noun): The faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is Read More
Linda McKinnish Bridges | Read Isaiah 62:1-5
Have you ever had one of those days when everything worked together? The kids ate their breakfast. The car started. You arrived to work early, and you remembered to pack your lunch. Your office mate spoke a kind word. You came home to a clean house and happy family. All just seemed right with the world.
The prophet Isaiah describes such a picture of God’s relationship with Israel not because the days have been perfect but because Israel is a true delight to God. Isaiah uses the image of marriage as a symbol. The uniting of two into one promises flourishing. Israel, once without companion, desolate and forgotten, lost and rejected, is now “married,” and the land flourishes just as the family of the young bride and groom is intended to flourish. No longer forsaken, “you shall be called, ‘Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken’” (Isa. 62:12). In other words, God rejoices over you.
Hold that thought for a moment. God, the creator of the universe, the energy of the cosmos, delights in you. The creation story of Genesis tells us so. After the stars and moons, the birds and plants, the seas and the skies, all the critters, big and small, “God saw all that God had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31, ap). So what if you yelled at the kids this morning or your colleague made you so mad that you did not speak to her all week? Maybe you have just had the biggest fight of your married life over the most insignificant thing—socks on the bathroom floor or the shared, messy tube of toothpaste.
No matter how off the mark, how far from peace and order your life may be, your Creator God still rejoices in you! Not because of what you do or don’t do. God delights in you because you are a child of God.
Just as a parent delights in a child on good days and bad, so does God rejoice in you.
Popular conceptions of God sometimes mislead us. Messages coming even from within Christianity sometimes make us think that God is constantly angry, just waiting for us to slip up. This week’s readings remind us of the truth. Isaiah teaches us that God delights in God’s people just as a groom delights in his bride. This love, the psalmist proclaims, is steadfast and never-ending. The life of Jesus shows us that God even wants us to have a good time in this life. Jesus chooses a wedding as the place to perform his first sign. He multiplies the wine in order to multiply the enjoyment of the guests. Paul in First Corinthians speaks of spiritual gifts. These gifts are all given by God for the good of the entire community.
Read Isaiah 62:1-5. Recall a time when you have flourished and a time when your life was far from peace and order. How did you feel God’s delight in each situation?
Read Psalm 36:5-10. When have you felt God’s light, been quenched by the fountain of life, or taken refuge in the shadow of God’s wings?
Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. How can you use your God-given gifts to complement others’ and to support the common good?
Read John 2:1-11. How do Jesus’ miracles help you to understand his identity as the Son of God?
Respond by posting a prayer.
I join many of those who will pray for you as you seek to discern what you are called to be at this moment. May God grant you the courage to fulfill that calling. May we all open our eyes and see the misery, open our ears and hear the cries of God’s people, and, like God through the Lord Jesus Christ, be incarnate amongst them.”
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