When nothing’s going right,
when the land is dry,
when people have given up on God,
He has not given up on them. As we step into Isaiah, we enter a place where idols are worshipped and passivity rules. Righteousness isn’t there. But the mercy of God still longs for a relationship with His people. Watch what happens when the Spirit of God comes.
For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. – Isaiah 32:14-15 ESV
What changes when the Spirit comes upon us? Everything.
He can change the wilderness into a fruitful field. A lot has to happen for dryness to turn into fruit-bearing plants or trees. It takes even longer for several trees to build and become a forest. Not just one fruit-bearing tree, but two, three, four, hundreds. But God is the author of acceleration.
Why do we doubt that God can’t take our wilderness, those places that have gone dormant in our hearts and lives, and breathe on them? He is still God, right? Those dead areas can live, but not just live; they can bear fruit again.
Our faith in who He is can supersede what our eyes see today. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty and freedom, and God ain’t done!
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. – Isaiah 32:16-17 ESV
The NIV translation says, “The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.” – Isaiah 32:17
The righteousness of God given to us at salvation bears fruit in our lives. The fruit of righteousness is peace, quietness, and confidence forever. Not a screaming soul, but a peaceful one—always confident in God’s affections for us and His faithfulness to remain with us no matter what we see around us.
Our hope is not in what we see, but it is in God Almighty. It is His righteousness and grace working in us and through us that changes everything.
The outside visual world is not the only reality. We have a heavenly reality through Christ that gives us permission to speak “Peace” to storms around us. He gives us authority and availability to pray and release His power from the supernatural realm into the earthly realm.
Anytime your eyes start to look at your own works to get you to feel peace, pull back. Ask the Holy Spirit to pour into you and allow His righteousness to bear the fruit of peace and quietness.
Here is your musing for the week
This week, let your mind stay focused on this truth: The fruit of righteousness is peace.
That righteousness is in you. It is active and promoting peace, quietness, and trust in God.
Accept it. Believe it. Enjoy it.
(This article is #2 in the Musing Series. Here are the links to Parts 1 and 3 of the series to help you know God more deeply.)
