3-2-2023

 

Good Morning All,

         Isaiah 40:11; “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young”. 

    This is one of those verses that can bring about a lot of comfort to us.  Yet this is one of the verses with a “rest of the story” quality.  The first 39 chapters speak of Jerusalem’s destruction and the carrying off of the Israelites into slavery and captivity.  Think about how hard that would be to experience. 

    Imagine that you were one of those who were forced into captivity.  As you are marching away from your city, you turn back and look at it.  It is in flames; most of the buildings are destroyed.  Many of the inhabitants are dead; either killed in the battle or they died during the siege from starvation or illness.  Every one of those who were forced to relocate and to serve as slaves to the conquerors would have known someone who had died and a large number may have had family members who were dead.  They were marching away with great sadness, fear and a deep sense of loss.  They would have been bewildered at the events and they probably asked why.

    We have all had times in our lives when we felt exactly like this.  We have gone through events which just left us numb.  Maybe it was the death of a loved one, maybe it was a sudden change in the way your job works, maybe a relationship changes dramatically.  Perhaps one day you got up and felt fine only to find yourself that evening in the hospital fighting for your life.  We experience these types of events and we are left lost and confused.       

    Yet when we face these events, we do not have to face them alone; even when it seems like that is what is happening in our life.  We do not face them in a state of hopelessness.  God loves us with the unimaginable compassion that we cannot even begin to comprehend.  When we hurt, God hurts with us; when we mourn God mourns with us.  Yet far more important than this, God comforts us.  He holds us close to his chest, gently in his arms giving us the comfort which we need, which we seek at times when we are numb from fear or pain or loss.  God comes to you offering comfort.  If God offers us comfort, it means there will be times when we need it.  We do not grieve or suffer as those who have no hope.  Through our pain and suffering we must cling to our only hope; the promise of eternal life and the resurrection of the body.  With this promise comes God’s offer of comfort.  He offers us this comfort and then moves his redeemed to reach out and provide the “hands” of that comfort.  He also brings comfort to us through his Word as he speaks to us his desire to love us; his desire to comfort us; his desire to clutch us close to his bosom and comfort us the same way we comfort a crying child.  We must cling to him and to his promise that his nature is to love us and to lead us through the minefields of this life.  God gives us the comfort we so desperately seek, which we need.

Dear Father, you hold us close and comfort us with your love.  Often, we, like small children, cry and squirm and push from our comfort but you continue to hold us for we are your dear children.  We ask for your continued comfort and your undying love which is the only source of our hope.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret