“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:1-10
The promise of God’s righteous branch brought consolation and comfort during national decline. One day in the future a fruitful wise branch would rise from their crushed people. Enemies would be defeated, new ways would opened. Impossible and wondrous redemption and unity would take glorious place. These truths for their future were a balm of hope to a calloused, crumbling Israel. (Isaiah 11:11-16)
In any cursed, seemingly doomed situation, we too have the promises of God for substance of hope. Distances that have widened He can span, prodigals He can return and redeem, relationships that are rabid and ruined can be repaired. Where good counsel is void and fear of the Lord is absent, the Lord Almighty arrives and settles with wisdom and honor and perfect equity. Do we trust this word?
What circumstances threaten to swallow us with despair? What enemies of fear, depression, or anxiety loom heavy and near? What relationships seem broken beyond repair? What hopelessness or deep hole feel inescapable? When will we turn from defeat at the immovable stumps in our lives and see in them solid promise of God’s possibility?
His glory is greatly magnified when He rises from ruin. Often He appoints weakness and bleakness as the setting for His strength and splendor. Would we ask for His help to reset expectation from what we can see now to Whom we know? Looking for a shoot from stumps awakens delight over destitution and energizes faith in the Promise Keeper. (Genesis 18:14; Matthew 19:26; 2 Corinthians 12:9)
Lord, keep me trusting You and Your promises and expressing sure hope in a needy world.
As the rain and snow 