22. What the Lord Can Do If We give Him a Chance.

What the Lord Can Do If We Give Him a Chance

The Lord hath comforted all her waste places. He hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Isaiah 51. 3.

No matter how dark and hopeless a situation may be, it suddenly changes when the Lord is permitted to have His way. His coming is like the sudden bursting forth of the sun upon the darkness. Miraculously, the darkness disappears. Wherever Jesus went during His earthly ministry He brought light, and He wonderfully changed one situation after another. The hopeless received hope. The sick were healed. The dead were raised. Burdened sinners were released. No situation, however hopeless, remains unchanged when Jesus is permitted to take over.

The first staggering promise the Lord makes in this verse is that He will “comfort all her waste places.” He is referring here to Zion, which has been laid waste by the enemy. The entire city is in ruin. Fire has left it “waste.” How descriptive this word is! Nothing is left. One’s whole life’s work has gone up in smoke. It is too late to start over. Where once stood beauty there is nothing but black ashes. All is “waste” and only because they refused God’s Word. But can God do anything at a time like this, or rather, will He do anything for people who have nothing but ashes left? God Himself promises to “comfort all her waste places.” No human being dare say that. Have you felt that the word “waste” describes your life? Does a hopeless feeling overcome you when you look back upon your life? Are you also aware of your disobedience to His Word in the past? How fortunate then that you should meet the Saviour in this verse today. He stands ready to comfort you. Won’t you invite Him to take over?

The second great promise lies in the words, “He hath made her wilderness like Eden.” A wilderness is an unattractive useless area of land that lacks cultivation. It shelters wild beasts, and men shun it because of its dangers. Great possibilities may lie in a wilderness but they are all useless until the place has been converted into a place of habitation. “Wilderness” well describes a life unyielded to Christ. The Lord promises to take a wilderness and make it like “Eden.” Eden was the home of Adam and Eve. It was the most beautiful place on earth. Heaven’s richest blessing reigned supreme there. Happiness never reached a higher level than in Eden. Eden stands for the best that can be found on this earth. Our Lord offers to change a life that is like a wilderness to a place like Eden. Have you ever heard such a promise as this? What a mighty Saviour is He to be able to make this change! All He asks is that some soul will give Him a chance to prove this promise. If you feel that your life is like a wilderness, then it is you the Lord wants.

The third great promise lies in the word, “He hath made . . . her desert like the garden of Jehovah.” To comfort a waste place was great, to change a wilderness into Eden was greater, but to make a desert like the Lord’s own garden is the greatest of all. A desert is the most forsaken place on this earth. It is absolutely dried up and produces nothing. It lies helpless under the judgment heat of the sun. It lacks heaven’s blessings and has no power to change itself. It has no firmness, but its sands shift with the winds. It is utterly worthless. The Lord promises to change a life that fits this description into the likeness of “the garden of Jehovah.” We may be tempted to think the change is too great, that surely, if an individual has fallen so low as to merit the description of a “desert,” the Lord is no longer interested in him. Such thoughts are inspired by the devil. Our Lord, however, says He will “make her desert like the garden of Jehovah.” Rains from heaven can change a desert. How much more will not heaven’s spiritual rains change dried up lives to become “like the garden of Jehovah”? The Lord also promised that “The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as a rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing” (Isaiah 35. 1—2). Jesus summed this up in the words, “If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink” (John 7. 37).

Does it not encourage you to read such promises? How foolish, then, for anyone to live a life that is described as “waste,” “wilderness,” or “desert,” when the Lord offers “comfort,” “Eden,” and “the garden of Jehovah.” He is indeed “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3. 20).