Welcome to this daily meditation from Our Daily Bread.

I am Tom Felton and I called our reading A Beautiful Surprise.

The plowed ground contained a secret, something hidden.

In preparation for their 50th wedding anniversary, Lee Wilson had set apart 80 acres of his

land to produce perhaps the grandest floral gift his wife had ever seen.

He secretly planted countless sunflower seeds that eventually erupted into 1.2 million of the golden plants, his wife's favorite.

When the sunflowers raised their yellow crowns, Renee was shocked and overwhelmed by Lee's beautiful act of love.

Speaking to the people of Judah, through the prophet Isaiah, God shared a secret with

them. Though they couldn't see it now, after his promised judgment against them for their

unfaithfulness to him, a new and golden day would dawn. Isaiah 4-2 reads,

In that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious,

and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.

Yes, they would experience devastation and exile at the hands of Babylon,

but a beautiful branch, a new shoot out of the ground, would then be seen.

A remnant of his people set apart, cleansed, and lovingly led and cared for by him.

Our days can seem dark, and the fulfillment of God's promises hidden.

But as we cling to him by faith, one day all his great and precious

promises will be fulfilled. A beautiful new day awaits.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Isaiah chapter 4, verses 2 through 6.

In that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.

Those who are left in Zion, who remain in

Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The Lord

...