Walk at a Pace That Lets Someone Come with You

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Isaiah 35:3

Read Isaiah 35 and 36. Focus on 35:3 through 10. Isaiah's vision of restoration addresses bodies as well as feelings. Weak hands, unsteady knees, fearful hearts, blind eyes, deaf ears, and a lame person's movement all enter the promise. The future includes a people able to travel on a holy way with joy. The command to strengthen the weak belongs before the description of their glad return. People are not dismissed because the journey currently feels difficult. Hope makes room for those who need encouragement and support along the way. Chapter 36 brings us back into a frightening historical scene. Assyrian officials threaten Jerusalem and challenge the people's trust. The promise of restoration is heard in a world where intimidating voices are still real. We should not use the bodily images to guarantee a particular healing now or judge the faith of someone whose condition continues. They reveal the breadth of God's saving purpose. Human frailty is not treated as an unimportant detail that can be left behind. That can shape how we accompany people today. We may want someone included but arrange every activity around the pace of those who need the least assistance. The invitation is broad, while the actual journey quietly excludes. An older relative needs more time between the car and the room. A person returning after illness cannot manage the whole gathering. Someone overwhelmed by a changed life needs one explanation at a time. Their pace does not mean they have refused the destination. Ask what would make participation possible. A shorter visit, a seat available at the right point, a clearer arrangement, or an unhurried transition may matter more than a repeated assurance that everyone is welcome. We should listen rather than deciding what another person can manage. Some want assistance; some want room to do something independently. Care includes respecting the answer. There is a temptation to call our hurry necessary and the slower person's need excessive. Consider whether the schedule truly requires that speed or whether we have simply made the strongest participants the measure of everyone else. Do not announce a destination while refusing the pace at which someone can presently move toward it. A shared journey becomes more honest when the person who needs time is still included in the meaning of we. Put It into Practice Ask that person what adjustment would help them participate. Make one workable change without treating the accommodation as an inconvenience they must apologize for.

Who is technically invited into your shared life but practically excluded by its pace or demands?

Restoring Lord, help me make room for the people whose pace differs from mine. Give me attention to their actual wishes and needs. Let hope for your future teach patience with bodies and lives that need support today. Amen.