The Mystery Woman

Here I lift verses that have haunted me the last week or so. I happened upon them this morning during today's Bible study. Particularly this first one has been stuck in my mind, making me think I should look it up, remembering it was somewhere in Isaiah, then happening upon it as it was referenced in the part of Galatians I was reading this morning, (a New Testament reference that used it to compare differences in divinely decreed covenant ages.) Whether she is an individual or a people I do not know...maybe she is both.

This verse--this woman--is important, but I don't think she knows who she is yet, or else maybe I'd be able to "see" her. Still, she knows her grief well enough, for I've felt compassion toward her for a long time, although her personhood is as elusive as the Fly to my comprehending mind. Nevertheless, my heart reaches out to her. Maybe someday I'll know more about who she is...and my prayers for her will then become more concrete and maybe more than prayers. For now, I bask in the verses given to recognize, honor and reassure her. I feel them strongly and would hope my prayers open a door that will touch her spirit with hope and reassurance that this love gift will be made, despite its being beyond conprehension; it will be made because God is its author and finisher, and so it will move forward as smoothly as a hot knife cuts through whipped butter.

“Sing, O barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord." Isaiah 54:1 New International Version © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society

"Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. The shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood will be remembered no more," Isaiah 54:4 New Living Translation © 1996 Tyndale Charitable Trust

"The Lord will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected,” says your God." Isaiah 54:6 New International Version © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10 Revised Standard Version © 1947, 1952.


And these verses, are they also connected to her, or connected to those gathered around her, somehow?

Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let not any eunuch complain,
“I am only a dry tree.”
For this is what the Lord says:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant—
to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
to serve him,
to love the name of the Lord,
and to worship him,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.” isaiah 56:3-7
New International Version © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society

Still, so much is dark. It is funny, a friend was asking me to go to God recently about his venture into ministry, and I sent him back my sense that I saw him like a priest in an Exodus moment, offering up the bowl of sweet-smelling incense to the Lord as was done every morning and evening by the ancients. This morning, I see as I amble over to peruse another friend's photo blog that on the same day I sent that email, the photo blogger, too, had olfactory stuff on the brain, although the "bouquet" he referenced and lives with is not so very sweet. Still the point stuck in my mind: channels of thought are led to bring all into focus on God's point of view, whether we recognize it or not. I feel so small and incapable of much comprehension in these things. I feel like Solomon:

Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. Eccl. 8:1 Hebrew Names Version 2000 Info

But--
then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it. Eccl. 8:17 New International Version © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society

So I finish like I always do, saying: Thy will be done...both in the places illuminated, and in the ones still dark.