“O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence- as when the brushwood and the fire causes water to boil- to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter.” Isaiah 64:1-6a, 8
In this passage of Isaiah, the people of God had fallen into a pattern that no longer aligned with God’s desires for them. They were no longer faithful, they did not call out to him, they sinned, and they did not listen. And so, feeling the divide between themselves and God, they turned to the prophet Isaiah to plead their case, and Isaiah turned to them and reminded them about God.
It is not uncommon for us to approach Advent with a list of hopes and expectations as though it is all about us. Isaiah’s words remind us that this is God’s story and we are privileged to be invited to be a part of it.
Action: Spend some time making a list of what is true about God.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, give me a broader view of the ways you are working in the world. Help me to see past my own story to the larger stories of faith and love around me. Amen.