Your Redeemer God says:

‘I left you, but only for a moment. Now, with enormous compassion, I’m bringing you back. In an outburst of anger I turned my back on you— but only for a moment. It’s with lasting love that I’m tenderly caring for you’.” Isaiah 54:1-8 (MSG)

Perspective: 

The Israelites had been exiled, and Isaiah had given a prophetic message to them about the restoration of the people of Israel. It was a word for them in their current situation, but it was also a word that would later be realized. In the previous chapter, Isaiah spoke about a promise of deliverance and restoration that would be fulfilled in Jesus. God was calling the people to Himself and asking them to make room for what He was going to do before it occurred. In that day, a woman without a child would have been an embarrassment. Children cared for their parents as they aged. Isaiah used this analogy to compare the shame that the Israelites were experiencing in exile to a barren woman. Yet, without the situation changing, Isaiah called to them to sing, that a new song would rise up out of their desolation. The desolate and barren situation that the people faced would no longer be their song. The shame and embarrassment that resulted from the exile would no longer be part of their identity. God was going to expand their influence and capacity. He was going to restore His people, as only He could do.

The Israelites were facing a bleak situation. You may also have things or situations in your life that seem desolate or barren. Maybe your decisions have left you feeling isolated from God. Or maybe you have been walking with God, but instead of seeing abundance in your life, you see lack. God is able to multiply back to you that which has laid bare. The shame or embarrassment of your situation no longer has to be part of your identity. God wants to create an expansiveness in your life. It may be time to sing, even before your situation changes. Through praise, there can be a breakthrough. There is more that God wants to do in your life. He first wants to restore relationship with you as His child. However, it doesn’t stop there. Isaiah 43:18-19 (MSG) says,“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.” God is able to take the past and redeem it. He has not forsaken you to live in shame but has saved you to live in victory in your future. The promise of blessing that He gave to the Israelites is a promise onto which you can hold as well. As you prepare your heart for what is to come, don’t limit your expectations to what you can currently see. As Isaiah spoke to the Israelites, make room for the more that God has for you.