As the dogs and I were near the front fence this morning, I looked down at a partially exposed boulder, and this shape caught my eye. I knelt to have a closer look, discovering this circular design is raised and didn’t scratch away. My mind started whistling with ideas: Could this be a fossilized seashell? Could this be fossilized mud from the bottom of an ocean? NO, WAIT! Could this be a SIGN from a long ago prophet, signaling something to come?!
Hard to know.
However, after seeing this perfectly formed WHATEVER, I opened my Bible to Isaiah 9. (FULLADDDISCLOSURE--First it opened to Proverbs 18:13—“[S]He who gives an answer before [s]he hears, it is folly and shame to him [her].” So, I waited and then turned to Isaiah, and to my mind, I found an answer.
Boom! Reading verse 1 of Isaiah 9 gave me a rush of hope because I understand suffering anguish and despair in difficult times:
Vs. 1: But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He [God] treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naptali with contempt, but later He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea[!], on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
Not only is it amazing that a quote from a book written so long ago could speak to my present-day life circumstances, but also that the verse I “found” says God will make the way glorious by the way of the SEA on the “other side” of the Jordan where the Gentiles lived.
So, why don’t you look in your own dirt for a sign from the past that might just give you hope for a glorious future?
Vs. 2: The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine upon them.
Vs. 3: Thou shalt multiply the nation, Thou shalt increase their gladness; They will be glad in Thy presence as with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
Vs. 4: For Thou shalt break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.