Advent – Friday, December 17, 2021

Author: Gregory Brown

Isaiah 12:2-6

Reflection: v. 2, ‘surely God is my salvation’

‘Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.’ The image that comes to my mind is from a different translation, but it makes me think of God as guiding our steps toward salvation. God makes the journey toward salvation possible and we can put our trust in that even if it feels impossible. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord will guide my steps–he will multiply my steps. Reading this chapter in Isaiah put me in the mind of a story I heard when I was younger about a team of expeditioners who went on a hiking expedition. This particular hike could take more than a month to complete. It was a 250 mile hike and there was a competition to see who could complete the hike the fastest. There had never been anyone to complete the journey within a month. But there was one man who did it in two weeks. Everyone asked him, ‘How did you do it? This is impossible!’ And he said, ‘Yes, but instead of just walking 250 miles, I walked 250 steps.’ This brings me back to Isaiah–the God of Isaiah is the God who guides our footsteps and multiplies our steps. Where the scripture says ‘you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: give thanks to the Lord,’ I think of how if we let God guide our steps, he will lead us to thirst-quenching water that lasts forever. God will lead us to salvation, and in that we can trust.

Prayer Guide our steps, O Lord, toward salvation. Help us trust you.

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