Common Good

Hope for the Exiled

AdventRefugees, Asylum and Sanctuary Week 1 · Day 6

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Isaiah 40:1-5

¹ “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
² “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”
³ The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.

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⁴ Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
⁵ The LORD’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.”

New Testament

1 Peter 1:3-9

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
⁴ to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,
⁵ who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

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⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials,
⁷ that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ—
⁸ whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory,
⁹ receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Thought for the Day

Isaiah begins with a double word: “Comfort, comfort my people.” The prophet speaks to those who have lived too long under loss, whose roads have been broken, whose future has felt closed. And he dares to imagine a highway through the wilderness, valleys lifted, rough places made plain, the glory of the Lord revealed.

Exile has many forms: a border crossed in fear, a language you cannot yet speak, a life reduced to waiting. Scripture does not shame that weakness. It comforts it.

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Peter blesses God for mercy that gives a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hope here is not denial. It is a new birth. It is held by God when we cannot hold it ourselves. It can live even when we grieve, even when we are tested, even when joy feels like a thin thread.

So pray for those who cannot see a way home, and for those making a home where they are. Pray for communities that can bear the long work of accompaniment. And ask the risen Lord to keep your own heart from shrinking: to make you steady, patient, and quietly hopeful, so that your presence becomes a small sign of the road God is making.

Prayer Points

Respond

Lord, speak comfort to those displaced and grieving; give rest to bodies and peace to minds.
Make a way through wilderness places: safe routes, safe housing, and safe community for those who are vulnerable.
Strengthen those who accompany the long waiting: friends, churches, professionals, and volunteers.

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Give living hope to believers in exile; keep faith from curdling into bitterness or collapsing into despair.
Teach me to carry hope with gentleness, offering steadiness rather than empty optimism.

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