Even in the Wilderness of Babylon
Today’s scripture: Isaiah 40:1-11 The second Sunday in Advent focuses on faith and this account of Isaiah’s coming from the wilderness – captivity in Babylon, comes to remind us and encourage us to hold onto our faith. It was many years before the people would see Christ but God is faithful to us even in the wilderness of our disobedience and neglect toward God.
Isaiah must have been quite the dreamer. He dreamed of a time when God would redeem his people and make a way for them out of the wilderness to come home. Even though Isaiah never lived to see the Messiah in person, he could see God’s faithfulness and knew that God would not abandon the people. We are in a wilderness season with a disease we do not understand, we do not like the restrictions and we do not want to be here. Yet, Christmas reminds us that God is with us, God has come to us in Jesus and he will come again. It is difficult to hold onto faith alone, but with the power of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement of each other, we can keep our faith, even grow in faith during this time. Let us keep our eyes on Christ and hold onto faith.