But God makes beautiful things

Isaiah 35:1-2 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

This is what we found when we came home from Colombia. More about that next time!

Longing for restoration has been a theme for me as I waited for two surgeries last year, after a long time of attempting to resolve my problems non-surgically, and as I tried to be patient though the recovery process. Ever since sin came into the world, we exist in a perpetual state of longing for things to be made right.

Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we can have hope that God cares about the pain in our world enough to enter it Himself and that He is powerful enough to put an end to death and sadness. He promises to come back again someday and mend all that is broken.

Isaiah 35 gives a glimpse of what God’s kingdom will look like when it is restored to its intended design. It will not just be improved, but perfected. Beyond meeting our basic needs, all of creation will flourish and be made beautiful.

This year I’ve taken comfort in the fact that God doesn’t ask or expect us to fix all our problems in our own strength, but that He invites us to participate with Him in His work of renewing what has decayed and creating new things that are good. When we think about the current wars, our deteriorating bodies, relational conflicts, or our selfish hearts we can feel overwhelmed. But help is coming. Justice is coming. Jesus is coming.

In the meantime, we don’t have to sit back and say, “Nothing matters, because it’s all going to fall apart anyway, and God will just fix it all.” Just as I give small tasks to my young children to help with a bigger job than they can do on their own, the Lord gives us our small part in his work. He uses us despite our past or ongoing faults, with whatever limited resources we have.

As we humbly engage in God’s redemptive work, our values become more fully aligned with God’s values. We become invested in the people and things we’re responsible for and we grow in desiring their good. 

For me, working for good means homeschooling our kids, teaching classes on our homeschool community days, helping out in Kids Church, taking meals to people, and hosting people for dinner. I also enjoy weekly time for creative projects like drawing and songwriting. 

What’s going on in your corner of the world? Where do you long for restoration? What areas of growth or healing have encouraged you? How are you working to bring about goodness and beauty? I would love to learn from you!

Beautiful Things by Gungor