Destroying the Shroud
[God] will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples.
Isaiah 25:7
A brutal car wreck devastated Mary Ann Franco. Though she survived, the injuries left her completely blind. “All I could see was blackness,” Franco explained. Twenty-one years later, she injured her back in a fall. After waking from surgery (which had nothing to do with her eyes), miraculously, her sight had returned! For the first time in more than two decades, Franco saw her daughter’s face. The neurosurgeon insisted there was no scientific explanation for her restored vision. The darkness that seemed so final gave way to beauty and light.
The Scriptures, as well as our experience, tell us that a shroud of ignorance and evil covers the world, blinding all of us to God’s love (Isaiah 25:7). Selfishness and greed, our self-sufficiency, our lust for power or image—all these compulsions obscure our vision, making us unable to clearly see the God who “in perfect faithfulness [has] done wonderful things” (v. 1).
One translation calls this blinding shroud a “cloud of gloom” (nlt). Left to ourselves, we experience only darkness, confusion, and despair. We often feel trapped—groping and stumbling, unable to see our way forward. Thankfully, Isaiah promises that God will ultimately “destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples” (v. 7).
God will not leave us hopeless. His radiant love removes whatever blinds us, surprising us with a beautiful vision of a good life and abundant grace.
By Winn Collier
REFLECT & PRAY
God, the gloom is everywhere these days. It’s so difficult to see Your truth and love. Will You help me? I’m hopeless without You.
Where do you sense the darkness in your world? How do you imagine Jesus destroys that place?
Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
One of the realities of life in a broken world is that death, shame, and grief dominate our experience. Isaiah’s prophecy responds to these destructive concerns with the promise of 25:8—God “will swallow up death forever” and wipe away every tear. This promise is echoed in the Bible’s last book, “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). Bill Crowder
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