You Will Celebrate

Yes, you will go out with celebration, and you will be brought back in peace.
Even the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you; all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
-Isaiah 55:12

When you come out from that place you have been in, you will be celebrated.  It will be like a party.  It will be like a welcoming home.  Have you seen the videos of the soldiers being greeted when they return from over seas?  They are being celebrated and congratulated.

God not only wants us all to end well, at the end of our lives; but also to transition well, as we come out from and go into new seasons.  Some people have been suffering in a hard place for so long, that they can not imagine how they will get to the other side of the river, so to speak.  They can not fathom what a new place, a new placement, a new assignment, a new life in this life would be like.  They have been giving up hope.  Their hearts are sick.

Consider Sarah & Abraham or Elisabeth & Zachariah, who never had children; but got the good news that they would conceive, at an older age.  Consider Moses, who was put out in left field for decades.  I think it is fair to imagine that these five people disqualified themselves and gave up the hope of their dreams.  You can run out of hope, but God does not forget you and the plan He has for you.

To the most discouraged person who feels stuck, who has made a home in the transitional living space; God says, "you will come out of there in a party".  Coming out will be a celebration, a time of joy.

When we come out of the hard place, the dry or dark time, or the forever-waiting-room time; we will be at peace.  We have tried to be at peace now, to make peace with our circumstances, and it has been hard and difficult.  There has been a dying and we have sought to find resurrection life in the life-giver in our hard places.  Some people have been between a rock and a hard place, as the saying goes.  Others have felt like they were treading water, while others have struggled just to keep standing.

Some have dreamed of running away to a different life and some people want to just close their eyes.  Some people do many things to distract themselves from the pain of a hard life and they scheme as to how to eject themselves into a new life.  Some of us worry and some of us connive.  Under pressure, some people deny their faith and betray people.

But, God brings us out of our hard places, out of our exile, in peace.  "Yes, you will go out with celebration, and you will be brought back in peace."  Peace means wholeness, a complete peace; a peace inside out.  When you come out, you will be in harmony, with a great sense of well-being.  That is the peace that passes all understanding.  It is the feeling, with joy, of answered prayer.  God will bring us out in fulfillment.

The encouraging word of the Lord here is that you will come out of that place, and when you come out, it will be a party.  When you come out, you will come out whole and fulfilled.  It is like the difference between  being hungry and being full.  You will come out satisfied.

What does it mean when is says that the mountains and the hills will burst into song and the trees will clap their hands?  The picture is one of celebration from unexpected places.  The picture painted with words is one of everything coming into alignment with God.  When God's favor is upon you, everything flows.  You are smiling and just about everyone smiles back.  It is favor.  You are God's and God's blessing is upon you.

There is a song that goes something like this:  "When you're in love, the whole world sings a melody".  If God has ever moved in your life, to take you out and put you in; if God has ever done something special for you; or if God has ever set you free;  then you know what it is even a little bit like to feel like the mountains and hills are singing or the trees are clapping.

The joy coming is a laughter in which your face will hurt from grinning so much and your belly will be sore from laughing.  This will be healing for you.  You will laugh so hard that your sides will ache and your heart will be filled, overflowing, with Joy.  God will break the chains that have bound you and set you free.  Your mourning will be turned into dancing, as God lifts your sorrows.  Yes, you will come out with celebration and then go in with peace.

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