“So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” — Isaiah 55:11-12 (NIV)
A friend remembers sitting in the basement of an old church when he was seven years old and earnestly raising his hand to accept Jesus. He wasn’t a churchgoer; a friend’s family invited him. Nothing in his short life gave him any understanding of what this decision was about. For years, he had no idea what really happened. He eventually shook it off as a childhood thing.
Years later, in a moment of great need, he cried out to God. Everything he had heard in that basement rushed to the forefront of his memory—the love of God, Jesus’ declaration that He would never leave him nor forsake him. He felt as if his whole life hinged on that spiritual transaction he made with God as a young boy. He remembered hearing that “all things work together for good to those who love God” and he found great comfort and reassurance (Romans 8:28).
God’s Word never comes back void. My friend barely remembers the faithful Sunday School worker who spoke to him that day, but the message of love reached the heart of a young boy and came back years later to comfort a hurting man and bring a wandering soul home.
How reassuring to know that God’s Word is real, powerful, and yes, will accomplish His desire and purpose: to love us and draw us close as His beloved sons and daughters.
