After an especially hard and hurtful day at the office, a worn out, discouraged business man wrote his letter of resignation.
He wrote, “I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year old again.
I want to go to McDonald’s and think that it’s a four star restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.
I want to think M & M’s are better than money because you can eat them. I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer day.
I want to return to a time when life was simple; when all you knew were colors, multiplication tables and nursery rhymes, but that didn’t bother you, because you didn’t know what you didn’t know as you didn’t care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.
I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.
I want to live simple again. I don’t want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness and loss of loved ones. I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.
So, here’s my checkbook and my car keys, my credit card bills and my 401k statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.”
Have you ever felt like that business man? Do you ever feel like hope is almost lost? That you are going to never see better days?
God speaks to you today through the Prophet Isaiah and wants you to know He understands what you are going through. He promises that if you wait on Him and trust Him you will find your strength renewed.
Let’s look at what God has to say through His Word about how He comforts you in the midst of hurting.
1. GOD COMFORTS YOU WITH HIS SYMPATHIZING PRESENCE (VS 1-11)
No matter the problem, pain, pressure you are facing right now, God cares and is concerned with the things that concern you.
Being a child of God does not exempt you from hurting, difficult times.
Avery Willis who wrote Masterlife died this year and is with the Lord in heaven. Avery battled many months of suffering from cancer and Leukemia. He gave one of his greatest witness that God gives grace even in the midst of our most difficult times prior to his death. He was one of the Southern Baptists finest Christian leaders.
The people in Isaiah’s day were living as if God didn’t exist. They had strayed far from His will, His ways, His worship and they had paid a heavy price for it. They would end up being enslaved by their enemies, Babylon.
Israel’s rebellion and rejection of God had cost them deeply. It never pays to turn away from God.
Summarizing The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible,“In the future, Judah and its beloved capital, Jerusalem, would fall to Babylon and the citizens would suffer the horrors of defeat and slavery.
The people of Judah would lose everything: their homes, property, wealth, communities, cities, nation, worship centers, and their beloved temple in Jerusalem. Everyone would be destitute, and a spirit of hopelessness and despair would continually flood their hearts. Yet, the day was coming when they would be comforted and set free from their captivity to Babylon and from sin and death.
God had made a promise to save His people and He would keep it. Through His power and the promised Messiah, God’s prophecy of comfort and freedom would be fulfilled. His people would be set free from their captivity to Babylon and from their enslavement to sin and death.”
First, His sympathizing presence brings you PEACE
God declares, “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended…” (Isaiah 40:1-2a)
God’s Word of comfort brings you peace, today. Comfort does not necessarily mean that you will not have unpleasant times, but that you will have the Presence of the Lord with you.
One of my best pastoral friends has had the most difficult, demanding year of his life. The pain in his back has been excruciating. He has been countless times to the doctor for injections, counsel, relief, only to find little to no comfort.
I asked him what has been his comfort in the midst of his pain. He said, “My faith in God. God has never abandoned me. When I’m powerless to do anything for God, God has been powerful to be with me.”
Second, His sympathizing presence brings you PARDON
One of the primary sins that had Israel in trouble was failure to obey God in His call to be a light to the surrounding Gentile nations.
In spite of their failure to fully obey, God Himself declares, “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” (Isaiah 40:2)
Israel received the exact discipline she needed from the Lord concerning her sin.
A bulletin blooper stated, “The Senior Choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys SINNING to join the choir.”
The reason you and I have full pardon from sins penalty, power, and one day presence is because of the price the Lord Jesus Christ paid on the cross of Calvary.
The Apostle Paul writes, “In Him (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Ephesians 1:7)
Third, His sympathizing presence brings you PREPARATION
Rev. Todd M. Kindle shares, “When a king was to visit a region or a city it would be announced well in advance so that the people could prepare the way for him, making the roads worthy of His presence. When He comes, He will come in the fullness of His glory and nothing will get in His way.”
Are you preparing the way for the Lord in your life today? God wanted His people to know He was going to make a way for them to return home, to Jerusalem.
In the New Testament, John the Baptist would come and prepare the way for the coming Messiah to enter the earth. John called people to turn away from their sins and be baptized. He was a voice in the wilderness crying, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”
Just as John preached faithfully the truth of God’s Word, calling people to turn away from their old life and exhorting people to new life, preparing people to know and walk with the Savior, God calls each of us as His people to prepare our lives for the coming again of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prepare by understanding you are not going to live forever on this earth. You are temporary. God is everlasting.
There was a tombstone on which was engraved: Pause now, stranger as you pass by; As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so soon you’ll be. Prepare yourself to follow me!
Someone had placed a piece of wood next to the tombstone. On it was written, To follow you I’m not content, Until I know which way you went!
2. GOD COMFORTS YOU WITH HIS SHEPHERDING PRESENCE (V 11)
Our worship leader, Tim Chapman, shared with the choir this past week that we were hoping to have live lamb on our Christmas stage. However, the cost for the was too expensive.
Tim asked the owner about having just one lamb. The owner replied, “You do not want to have just one lamb. It will cry and cry if it is all alone. It must have another close by to be comfortable.”
Isaiah writes of our Lord’s shepherding presence, “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom. And gently lead those who are with young.” (Isaiah 40:11)
What will a good shepherd do? Among other important duties, he will:
• Keep the Sheep Together
• Protect the Sheep from Potential Enemies
• Guide the Sheep to Green Pastures and Still Waters
• Comfort the Sheep with His Presence
• Guide the Sheep through Difficult Valleys
Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd.
Jesus states, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
Jesus declares, “As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” (John 10:15)
A friend of mine struggled for years with alcohol, was a terrible father, example, husband, etc. Nevertheless, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, did not give up on him.
God continually showed his everlasting, shepherding love through faithful, loving Christians who lived out the comforting mission of their Shepherd.
Today, because of our Great Shepherd, this man’s life is totally changed. His marriage is restored and his life has meaning, purpose because of his relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the greatest ministries God calls you to is the ministry of comforting, encouraging others. Who needs your comforting presence today?
The Apostle John shares of a future day, “And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:13-17)
3. GOD COMFORTS YOU WITH HIS SUSTAINING PRESENCE
To Israel, God seemed so small and her problems seemed so large.
To help His people with their perspective, God asks His downtrodden people some penetrating questions.
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand. Measured heaven with a span. And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” (Isaiah 40:12)
“Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor taught Him?” (Isaiah 40:13)
“With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:14)
“To whom will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?” (Isaiah 40:18)
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” (Isaiah 40:21)
Speaking of the Lord, Isaiah says, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” (Isaiah 40:22)
Two Harvard astronomers have discovered a “great wall” of galaxies that they estimate to be 500 million light-years long, 200 million light-years wide, and 15 million light-years thick. (One light-year is 5.88 trillion miles.)
God created all of those galaxies and sustains everything that exists by His powerful hands. Yet that same mighty God, the one and only God, uses those hands to gently touch the lives of suffering men and women.
The Psalmist describes our great God, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars. He calls them by name. GREAT is our Lord, and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite.” Psalm 147:3-4.
The God of the galaxies is the Great Physician who lovingly ministers to our needs.
4. GOD COMFORTS YOU WITH HIS STRENGTHENING PRESENCE (VS 27-31)
Todd Linn explains, “The meaning of the word “wait” there is much like we use it today when in a restaurant. We come into the restaurant and we sit down. After a few moments, a “waiter” comes over to our table. He may even say, “My name is John and I will be ‘waiting’ on you.”
What he means is that he is going to be serving you, coming into the room periodically, looking at you expectantly, seeing if there is anything he can do.
That is why, in helping us understand the meaning of the phrase, “wait on the LORD,” the Amplified Bible offers the parenthetical words, “expect, look for, and hope in Him.” To “wait on the LORD” means we turn to Him, we look up to Him, we place our faith in Him.
The word “renew” is a word that is best translated here as “exchange.” Those who, when they are hurt, weary, worn out, go to God, will “renew,” will “exchange” their dwindling strength which has become faint and weary with God’s strength, the God who never faints or becomes weary.
Will you rely on God’s strength or your own?
Author Carl Sandberg shared honestly, “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.”
Practically, how can you “wait on the LORD?” Here are four ways:
The first way is through PRAYER. Spend time with Him with God in prayer.
The second way is through spending time in the WORD OF GOD. Open His love letter, the Bible, and let it speak to your heart. The Bible is not going to do much for your life if all it does is sit on your shelf and collect dust.
Isaiah declares the power of God’s Word, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
The writer of Hebrews reminds us, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword…” (Hebrews 4:12)
Nothing feeds your soul more than finding time each day to let God’s Word speak to your heart.
The third way to wait on the Lord is through offering PRAISE TO THE LORD. God inhabits the praises of His people.
God said, “This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.” (Isaiah 43:21)
The fourth way to wait on the Lord is to be led by the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.
The Apostle Paul writes, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans 8:14
Pastor James Merritt gave this illustration, “In storms, most birds fly away. However, the eagle seems to long for the storm. The storm compels the eagle to fly higher and faster. Normally an eagle can fly about 50 miles per hour. But when he is in the strong wind currents of a storm he can fly up to nearly 100 miles per hour. The eagle uses the turbulent winds to stay up longer because, rather than using his own strength, he uses the strength of the winds, and he glides through the air.”
When you trust in the Lord, through even the most difficult of storms, you will find Him giving you strength beyond your own strength.
The comfort of the Lord does not always mean your troubles go away, but it does mean He is ready to give you fresh hope, fresh strength to face life’s demands.
A gentleman shared with me this week how God comforted his family during a very tough time recently. He said, “My son lost his job, foreclosed on his home and had to move back home with my wife and I. The time we spent together was a healing time as we worked our way through some childhood issues and strengthened our relationship. Today, he and his wife have new jobs in Mississippi and they are in church, renewing their walk with the Lord.”
A crisis may be used to bring us back closer to the Lord. God can take our most difficult TESTS and turn them into a powerful TESTIMONY for His glory.
How does God comfort you in the midst of hurt? Through His Sympathizing, Shepherding, Sustaining, and Strengthening Presence.
Will you bring your life, hurts and all, to the foot of the cross where the Savior waits to exchange your sin for His free gift of salvation?
There is nothing more comforting to know you are right with your Creator, Redeemer, Savior and Lord of all.
