These words of hope were written when the people of Israel were still in exile in Babylon where they had been for many many years far from home. But here they are told that God is coming through the desert which would have represented to them the physical desert which separated them from their home. This impossible journey for them would have mirrored their inner spiritual and emotional desert. For us too whatever spiritual or emotional wilderness we experience God takes the initiative in making the way home for us. So what is our part?  To have open hearts and minds and to make space for God to come to us. And we need each other on such journeys when we experience God in a new way ‘all people shall see it together.’