Isaiah 55:10-12

Here's my verses for the day:

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.

You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

I'm thinking of these verses for several reasons.

First, I received a report at work of a conflict intervention a while ago that had apparently resulted in a lot of frustration because of cultural differences between the parties and the mediators. And then we received an exuberant email from them today reporting joy, growth and unity in the congregation. How's that for God working in spite of his peoples' weaknesses, ignorance and inadequacy? Isaiah 55:10-12.

Secondly, I agreed to participate as a mediator in a mediation at the end of this month. It's pretty far outside my realm of experience and I only agreed because a) there wasn't anybody else, and b) I was feeling particularly faith-filled and obedient at the moment. If the Lord works, it will be very clear that it is the Lord working. As he promises to always do (in some way). Isaiah 55:10-12.

Third, I went to a wonderful women's dinner at my church last night where one of the sweetest, grandmother-to-all, servant-in-everything women at my church shared about how God had worked in her life in 49 years of marriage. One thing that struck me was how big a role God's Word had played in their family's life -- there weren't necessarily dramatic moments of conversion, but they gradually began reading God's Word more and more, and it had a transformative effect on them.

This leads me to want to be so much more faithful in my own reading of God's Word. He promises that it will change me. He promises that my own ministry will be more effective the more it is drenched in his own words. And this gives me confidence to live the life of faith that more often feels like "life on the edge" because it's not about me -- God will accomplish what he will, sometimes through me, sometimes in spite of me. In the end,

You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.