Isaiah 35:3-4

Passage: Isaiah 35
The Ransomed Shall Return.
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,
"Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you."

Journal: Our journey, the path of the redeemed in Christ, is always secure and yet never without treachery. That is, though we are traveling on solid rock, the edges are at times jagged and the slope is sometimes steep. Christ warned us that our travel with Him would not be easy. ["Matthew 15:18 -- "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you."] The secure path of Christ was certainly fraught with peril. [Mark 15:16-20 -- "And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him."]

Yet, Christ is with us to "strengthen [our] weak hands, and [to] make firm [our] feeble knees." Our path at times will have us bleeding and scarred; yet, as the cross so vividly portrays, the pain leads to our gain. We are admonished to "fear not," for He is our strong and mighty warrior. His strength is the remedy for our propensity toward an "anxious heart." He will "come and save you," and indeed He has already saved those who believe on His name. Oh, what a great security; an eternity of solid, smooth and straight paths awaits His children.

Heard 'Round the House:
Well, we had storms roll through last night, bringing high winds and rain. I woke up and had been down-sized, as all three of our down syndrome children were in bed with us. Anna [age 8] was also there for good measure. For some reason, these cramped conditions brought on a snoring attack from Jill and a barking attack from the dogs outside weathering the storm. I put Emma in the floor on a pallet, but it was a "no-go" on getting comfortable. As you might suspect, I was up really early this morning . . .