Seeing a Future of Hope

Hi, and thanks for joining us for today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading titled Seeing a Future of Hope was written by Monica LaRose. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans worked to slowly rebuild. One of the most hard-hit areas was the Lower Ninth Ward, where for years after Katrina, residents lacked access to basic resources.

Bernal Kotlin worked to change that. In November 2014, he opened the first grocery store in the Lower Ninth Ward after Katrina. When I bought the building, everybody thought that I was crazy, Kotlin recalled.

But the very first customer cried because she never thought the neighborhood was coming back. His mother said her son saw something I didn't see. I'm glad he took that chance. God enabled the prophet Isaiah to see an unexpected future of hope in the face of devastation. Seeing the poor and needy search for water but there was none, God promised to turn the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into springs. When instead of hunger and thirst, his people experienced flourishing once more, they would know the hand of the Lord has done this. He's still the author of restoration, at work bringing about a future when creation itself will be liberated from its bondage. As we trust in his goodness, he helps us see a future where hope is possible. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Isaiah chapter 41 verses 17 through 20. The poor and needy search for water, but there is none.

Their tongues are parched with thirst. But I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into springs.

I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it. Let's pray. Lord, when we look around and see need all around us, lead us to act with love and compassion and meet needs where we are able. As we do, may we witness to the hope found in you and the future you're bringing. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening today. My name is Brenna Holzgla, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.