Comfort for the Day

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh’s hand double for all her sins.”

The voice of one who calls out,

“Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God. 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. The glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”

The voice of one saying, “Cry!”

One said, “What shall I cry?”

“All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”          Isaiah 40:1-8 (WEB)

God’s chosen people spent many generations wandering in a desert or exiled or fighting enemies and then taken prisoner and exiled again! They grieved for their loss of home; their relationship with Yahweh.

I grieve today. Compared to Israel my loss is very new, very personal, and even small by Kingdom size. My Father, my compassionate, loving Father does not compare my grief. He just sees His child’s heart hurting and pours out His comfort. His comfort is personal and extravagant (double), lavish as it comes perfectly to the spot that aches and weeps.

His comfort does not just come as a balm but it also brings hope. It brings the promise that the valley will be made level. If my steps today seem to be on a rocky stretch, God promises He will clear the way and offers His hand to steady my stumbling steps even before I know I need the help.

God’s comfort does not minimize my grief as foolish but validates that this life is fleeting and when death comes there is sorrow at the separation. He gently reminds me that the separation will be but a season as He has promised that we who put our trust in Him will be reunited with Him and each other for all eternity. The mouth of God has spoken and I can put my trust in Him.

And so today I am separated and saddened by that separation. But I have this Hope that promises what I now cannot see but believe by faith and the testimonies of the very ones who have gone before me.