A Little Child Will Lead Them | Monday Invocation
“The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion will feed together, and a little child will lead them.”
Isaiah 11:6 CEB
After reading Isaiah 11:1-11, this question emerges: What does it mean to be led by the most unlikely of people who come from the most unlikely of places?
Similar to last week, we are presented with a version of the world that seems out of grasp today. Isaiah paints this picture of a world where even the most unlikely pairs, wolf and lamb, leopard and goat, not only coexist but thrive together. Unlike the separation we see in a zoo exhibit or even in nature sometimes, these animals share space, meals and rest, free from worry, fear, suspicion, and pride. This is a vision of peace that seems jarring because it seems so far from our present reality.
However, this vision isn’t rooted in a world that is already at peace or in full bloom. If we rewind back to the start of this chapter, we are reminded that this picture is brought about in a time where everything is not perfect. The image used in these verses is a stump. It’s not a flowering bush or a blooming tree bearing fruit, but a stump. A tree that has been cut down and pulled back from a version of itself that no longer exists. This imagery reminds us that it’s not from a thriving place that the bringer of peace will come, but from brokenness and loss.
God doesn’t start with perfection. Instead, God brings hope and transformation out of places we might consider broken, small, and seemingly unimportant to lead us into something new. Even in the midst of chaos or disappointment, God offers us a vision of peace and belonging in a world turned upside down in the most glorious ways.
In our current season, as we long for peace, these words from the sixth verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel echo Isaiah’s vision of peace when all seems dim:
O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light
How have you seen unexpected people or “unlikely places” bring hope or transformation in your own community or life lately?
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