Introduction

The people of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Hickman, Neb., have organized a Spirit-Driven Task Force, bringing together almost forty members who have committed to a year of study, prayer, reflection, and deliberation to discern how God is calling the congregation to renewal for the sake of his mission.

This is the twelfth of a series of weekly meditations with the aim to inspire reflection and encourage conversation among the members of the task force as we journey together in obedience to our Lord’s calling to serve him.

David Frye, a member of the Spirit Driven Task Force, wrote this week’s meditation.

Scripture

For just from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to him who sows
and bread to him who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10–11, New American Bible)

Meditation

With these words, Isaiah serves as the mouthpiece of the LORD. The prophet gives voice to God’s promise and pledge. Isaiah says to the people of Israel—and to us who overhear the LORD’s conversation with them—that His word works His will in the lives of His people, as surely as rain and snow fall from the clouds and bring nourishing waters to the earth and all that grows upon it.

For all who treasure the best of what sprouts from the roots of our Lutheran heritage, this assurance comes as a comforting reminder, recalling for us an echo of Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”:

God’s Word forever shall abide,
No thanks to foes, who fear it;
For God himself fights by our side
With weapons of the Spirit. (Lutheran Book of Worship, #229)

The message is the same. No matter what may stand against God, we can trust that His Word made flesh, the one we know as Jesus Christ, will carry out the Father’s will by the power of their Holy Spirit. Right there is the ultimate source of our comfort and courage in the face of the many challenges scattered throughout our life together at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church.

When God chooses to work His will in the life of His people, nothing stands against Him. He shall overcome our stubbornness, our pride, our sloth, and our self-centeredness. He shall overwhelm the adversities embodied in hard economic times, busy schedules, competing claims for attention, denominational distress, and cultural collapse.

We can be sure that God’s work will change us. We’ll find that idols and monuments to our own desires will be worn away, eroded by the raining down of God’s Word, by the forces that freeze and thaw and crack into rubble the rocks we have piled up, one upon another after our designs. In their place, the LORD will lay down the foundation of His Word and raise upon it a people who love and serve only Him. After all, we know that God keeps His promises, as He has said to us:

So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11, NAB)

Prayer

LORD God, give us the ears to hear Your Word and to follow its direction for living as Your people. Speak to us, so that we may find our lives rebuilt upon the trustworthy foundation of that Word. Help us to submit every part of our lives, both individually and as a congregation, to Your will, worked out in our midst through your Word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.