The Wilderness or the Garden? You Choose

January 27
Week Four – Waiting Is Trust

“Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy!

The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God.” Isaiah‬ ‭35‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.

Lions will not lurk along its course, nor any other ferocious beasts. There will be no other dangers. Only the redeemed will walk on it.

Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.” Isaiah‬ ‭35‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus.
It shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing…

And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness…
the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

I encourage you to find the time to read Isaiah chapters 34 and 35 side by side sometime today. These two chapters will help you to see clearly.

New Testament Companion Scripture

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭4‬

Context & Meaning

Isaiah places chapters 34 and 35 deliberately next to one another. They are meant to be read together.

Chapter 34 is bleak. It is desolation, collapse, barrenness, and ruin. The imagery is harsh and confronting. This is what life looks like when people insist on going their own way, when trust is placed in power, alliances, strength, control, or self.

Then comes chapter 35. Shockingly in contrast and different.

The wilderness blooms. The weak are strengthened. The blind see. The lame walk. A road appears where there was once only confusion. Joy replaces sorrow. Home replaces exile.

This is not poetic contrast for beauty’s sake. It is theological clarity. Isaiah is showing the outcome of trust. Not instantly or cheaply, but surely.

God is revealing Himself as the One who restores what trust returns to Him. He is not merely rescuing people from something, He is leading them back to what was always intended.

From the wilderness to the garden.

Reflection

Most of us don’t wake up and choose rebellion. We choose speed. We choose control. We choose coping. And slowly, quietly, we find ourselves living in a kind of wilderness. Not dramatic. Just dry.

Prayer feels thin. Hope feels delayed. Faith feels effortful. Joy feels like something we remember rather than experience.

What makes this passage confronting is that Isaiah doesn’t soften the truth. Both chapters are real possibilities. Both are lived realities. And the difference between them is not circumstance. It is trust.

Waiting feels passive, but it is not. Waiting is where trust is formed or abandoned. Waiting exposes where we place our weight.

Do we keep building our lives on ourselves, even when it isn’t working? Or do we pause long enough to let God rebuild us from the ground up?

Isaiah forces the question we often avoid. Are we living in the wilderness because we have no choice, or because we refuse to trust?

Gospel Thread (Jesus)

Isaiah’s Way of Holiness is not a concept. It is a Person. Jesus later says, “I am the way.” He becomes the road through the wilderness. The cornerstone on which a new life is built. The fulfillment of the garden promise.

He does not rush us out of waiting. He walks with us through it. In Him, the garden is not lost forever. It is promised, prepared, and coming.

Revelation shows us the end Isaiah points toward: no tears, no death, no sorrow. What Isaiah describes in hope, Jesus secures in reality.

Practice

Today, slow yourself deliberately.

Read Isaiah chapters 34 and 35 slowly, side by side. Do not skim them. Take the time to dwell on them.

Ask yourself honestly. Where does my life feel more like wilderness right now? Where might God be inviting me to trust rather than strive?

Sit with that question without answering it too quickly.

Prayer

God, this passage unsettles me because it tells the truth. I see how easily I choose control over trust, movement over waiting and coping over surrender.

I don’t want to live in this dry place forever. I don’t want to build my life on foundations that cannot hold me.

Teach me how to wait without running. Teach me how to trust You without conditions. Lead me onto the road You have made for me, even when it feels slow or too quiet. Even when it costs me something.

I want the life You intended for me. Not the one I can manage, but the one You restore me on.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Closing Invitation

Isaiah does not rush this moment, and neither should we.

The wilderness and the garden are both real. And the choice between them is made daily.

Today, pause. Pay attention. And trust the God of the universe who still turns deserts into places of abundant life.

He is patient enough to wait with you until you are ready to walk His way home.