Tag: comfort

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Bringing comfort to the hopeless

heart shaped latte art on cappuccino in sabinov

Isaiah prophesied about John the Baptist coming to prepare the way for the Lord. In its context, Isaiah was talking about bringing comfort to a tattered Jerusalem: “Comfort, comfort for my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2 ESV).

Clearly God is not pardoning sin just for the fun of it. As he prepared the way for Jesus, John’s message was one of repentance. Repentance is a central theme of the Bible, especially during Jesus’ reign on Earth. Israel had paid a dear price for their sins. They were exiled twice. Many people had fallen because of their sin. Many battles were waged against them in their own land. The Temple had been destroyed and rebuilt. War after war claimed the lives of many Israelites. Jesus came to bring hope and salvation.

There is a time for comfort, and that is exaclty what Isaiah preached. When people’s lives have been wrecked by sin, they have an opportunity to repent and to be comforted. As Christians, we have a duty to preach repentance and to comfort people who have lost much because of sin. Sin destroys. It wrecks families. It destroys life. The wages of sin is death. We know this. So we have a duty to work overtime to offer the Good News to a dying world, to offer hope. We live in a time when the harvest is ripe. We need workers to love our neighbors enough to warn them and comfort them.

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Mount Up With Wings Like Eagles

black and white eagle

Isaiah wrote during a very dark time in Israel’s history. As an 8th Century prophet, he witnessed the Assyrian invasion of the North in 722 B.C. These were troubling times for Israel, with a host of deaths, wars, and immorality. It seemed like the fires that were burning all over Israel had fuel dumped on each one, exasperating an already terrible problem of idolatry and oppression.

But God’s message in Isaiah 40 was one of comfort for the few who remained faithful. Isaiah begins his message to Jerusalem: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2 ESV).

God’s message is clear: those who need comforted will receive comfort and hose who are weary will be strengthened. “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (vs. 31). God saw the exhaustion on the people who were sorrowful from all the destruction. They were waiting for God to intervene and do something. No doubt, many people lost family members to war.

God is the same God he was yesterday. If we are weary, God will comfort and give strength.

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The God of All Comfort

Girl comforting boy

There is a difference between saying that someone will suffer and saying that someone should suffer. Jesus promises suffering for those who faithfully follow him, but that doesn’t mean that he thinks people should suffer. When Paul was on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Ananias in a dream and said about Paul, “For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:16 ESV). Jesus was not saying that he hopes Paul would suffer. He didn’t say Paul deserved to suffer. He did, however, said that it was necessary for Paul to suffer.

I’m not so sure that suffering is prescriptive as it is descriptive. In other words, God doesn’t prescribe suffering merely because we follow Christ. But suffering is descriptive of what happens to those of us who are faithful to him. It is necessary for us to suffer as Christians because people will always oppose goodness and righteousness. Evil will always exist. Oppression will always be present. Disease and sickness will always be on the earth.

But how does God respond, and how should we respond to one another? In 2 Corinthians 1, the word “comfort” is used more times than anywhere else in the Bible. Paul was suffering badly, but he was being comforted by God and God’s people. Paul said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 ESV). Paul says that, just as we share in Christ’s sufferings, we also share in his comfort.

This is a powerful message of hope in the midst of suffering. We should take comfort in the fact that our comfort is contagious. When we are comforted, we are able to comfort others. Paul said, “When we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer” (2 Cor. 1:6).

We have an obligation to share in our sufferings because, when we do, we also share in our comfort! The world would be a more beautiful place if more people were actively comforting one another.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash