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- Isaiah 55:10-11
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Uncomfortable truth: we’re capable of far less than we’d like to think.
It sounds like harsh judgment. It’s actually wonderful news.
Spoken to exiles whose circumstances wouldn’t allow them to go anywhere or accumulate anything, Isaiah 55 is God’s good news to all humanity. God has taken the initiative to provide what humanity truly needs. His life-bringing word will do the work.
What, then, are we to do?
Isaiah’s rain and snow imagery invites us to shift our focus from effort to exposure. Think of the effect on anything exposed to rain and snow: plants become lush, bodies of water fill up, dirt and dust and grime are washed away. The effects are both instant and ongoing. So it is with God’s word.
Exposure to it has abundant effects.