美國新奧爾良市在2005年經歷卡崔娜颶風的重創後，開始了緩慢的重建。下九區是受創最嚴重的地區之一，在遭遇浩劫後的近十年間，當地居民一直無法獲得基本物資。於是當地居民伯內爾．科特隆（Burnell Cotlon）決定改變這種狀況。2014年11月，他在下九區開了災後的第一間雜貨店。科特隆回憶道：「當我買下這棟房子，大家都覺得我瘋了！但第一位顧客卻激動落淚，因她從沒想過這個社區還能重新建立起來。」科特隆的母親說，她兒子看到了她沒有看到的，很欣慰兒子能把握這次的機會。

上帝使先知以賽亞在面對災難、絕望的處境中，看到了意想不到、充滿盼望的未來。上帝看見「困苦貧窮人尋找水，卻尋不著」（以賽亞書41章17節，和合本修訂版），就應許「要使沙漠變為水池，使乾地變為湧泉」（18節）。當上帝的百姓不再飢渴，而是再次經歷繁榮昌盛的時候，他們就會知道「這是耶和華的手所做的」（20節）。

直到如今，上帝仍是使萬物更新的主宰，在祂為你我預備的未來，被造的萬物都得釋放，不再被捆綁（羅馬書8章21節）。當我們相信上帝的美善時，祂會幫助我們看到充滿盼望的未來。

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans worked to slowly rebuild. One of the most hard-hit areas was the Lower Ninth Ward, where for years after Katrina, residents lacked access to basic resources. Burnell Cotlon worked to change that. In November 2014, he opened the first grocery store in the Lower Ninth Ward after Katrina. “When I bought the building, everybody thought that I was crazy,” Cotlon recalled. But “the very first customer cried cuz she . . . never thought the [neighborhood] was coming back.” His mother said her son “saw something I didn’t see. I’m glad [he] . . . took that chance.”

God enabled the prophet Isaiah to see an unexpected future of hope in the face of devastation. Seeing “the poor and needy search for water, but there is none” (Isaiah 41:17), God promised to “turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs” (v. 18). When instead of hunger and thirst, His people experienced flourishing once more, they would know “the hand of the Lord has done this” (v. 20).

He’s still the author of restoration, at work bringing about a future when “creation itself will be liberated from its bondage” (Romans 8:21). As we trust in His goodness, He helps us see a future where hope is possible.