Isaiah 35:6 Then will the lame leap like a dear and the mute tongue shout for joy.

• DAY 10 BIBLE READING

Luke 18-24


• DAY 10 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:6

FREEDOM FROM EVERY CRIPPLING CALAMITY OF THE PAST

Have you been crippled through a personal failure or tragedy? It can be difficult to move on from the devastation of life’s calamities. One of the worst ordeals for the soul is the death of a loved one. Such a loss can leave us excessively burdened and trapped in the past.

The story of Abraham’s father, Terah gives us an insightful picture of a man who could not depart from the loss of a loved one. Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor and Haran. The Bible tells us ‘Haran died in the presence of his father’ Genesis 11:28 To lose your son can produce terrible heartache; to have him die in your arms can be utterly devastating. In time, Terah took his family and left Ur of the Chaldeans in search of a new destiny in Canaan. En route however Terah passed through a city with the same name as his deceased son. Instead of continuing on to Canaan, the Scripture says Terah ‘went as far as Haran and settled there.’

Longing for a deceased loved one is normal. However life’s tragedies also have a way of obligating us to a false loyalty which prohibits the release of our pain. And Terah died in Haran. Not only did Terah settle in Haran he died there. Whatever the reason, Terah was never able to live beyond Haran’s death.

We must also see that as painful as the loss of a loved one is we cannot permit the wounds of the past to nullify what God has for us in our future. Even if we enter limping, we must not settle for something outside our destiny. God’s grace is here now. With His help, we must choose to journey on to Canaan or we too will die in Haran. Today where we have been crippled by life’s calamites of the past, God wants to restore joy to his people. You may have been weighed down by personal failure or tragedy. Christ came to bind up the broken hearted. Is 61:3. He wants to turn around our deepest wounds and worst failures. As we read in Hosea . The valley of Achor will become a door of hope. Hosea 2:15

No longer will church attendance be a penance for your failures. Where once sorrow and heaviness reigned, he gives a ‘garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise for a spirit of fainting’ Is 61:3. Where once you were crippled you will leap like a dear. Where you have been silenced by the pain of the tragedies in your life, YOU WILL SHOUT FOR JOY.


• Lord, free me where my walk with you has been crippled by tragedy in my life. Give me a garland for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning. Where I have suffered pain and sadness let there be joy. Thank you for your promise that the lame will leap like a dear and the mute will shout for joy. Turn around my deepest wounds and my darkest failures, and turn my valleys into a door of hope.

Frangipane, F In the days of his Presence 77-79