View Blog Entry

I attended a gathering where 99 percent of the participants were at least thirty years younger than me. I wanted to find someone’s address, so I pulled out my cell and typed. A young woman observed my action and called out, “You know how to use that?” Those around her laughed at the incongruity of a Boomer understanding a smartphone’s capabilities. But Jesus has compassion for the broken things.

In Isaiah, he  writes of the compassion and power of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would appear seven hundred years later (Isaiah 42:3). The Messiah will preserve the crushed reeds. A healthy reed is tall and jointed and thrives at the water’s edge. If the stem is crushed, the flow of nutrients from the soil to the leaves stops. This reed is doomed to die. From a gardener’s perspective, it takes up valuable soil space and should be plucked up and thrown away. But Jesus has the power, authority, and desire to heal the crushed soul and give new life.

And what good is a faintly burning wick? Other Bible translations describe the wick as “dimly burning, smoldering, and smoking.” The wick has seen better days. The flame is gone, with only a thin trail of rising smoke remaining. To the objective observer, that candle should be tossed away.

But Jesus, the Light of the world, has the power, authority, and desire to reignite the smoking wick and fan a new flame. The light Jesus gives dispels darkness and infuses hope into the dimly burning soul.

The last promise addresses Jesus’ zeal for justice in truth. A day is coming when His perfect justice will reign over the entire earth. Not justice contrived by humans, which can be one-sided and punitive, but justice established in truth—justice fair to all.

When you feel crushed and your light burns dimly, don’t despair. Turn to Jesus for His soul care over you. Pick up the Bible and read His words. He wrote them for you. God’s never-ending, never-failing love will raise you up. It’s difficult to feel small or foolish in the arms of Jesus.