In the 1970’s, pet rocks were popular. Well, that kooky fad is making a comeback in South Korea according to the Wall Street Journal. They quote Lee So-hee, a 30-year-old office worker, who used to live alone in Seoul. That changed a couple of years ago, just before Christmas, when a friend gave her a rock. She said, “If you really think of your rock as a pet, I do think it makes things a bit less lonely and more fun.”
South Koreans, who endure one of the industrialized world’s longest workweeks, have a tradition of unwinding in unusual ways. They have lain in coffins for their own mock funerals, checked into prison to meditate, and gathered in a local park each year for a “space-out” contest.
Pet rocks are the latest new thing. Lee, a researcher at a pharmaceutical company, made her pet rock a winter blanket from an old towel. It came into her life during a demanding stretch at work when she was working long hours in the lab, often late into the night.
“I’d occasionally complain to my rock about what a tiresome day I had at work,” she said. “Of course, it’s an inanimate object that can’t understand you. But it’s kind of like talking to your dog, and [I] can feel relaxing in some ways” (Jiyoung Sohn, “Overworked South Koreans Unwind With Pet Rocks — ‘Like Talking to Your Dog,’” The Wall Street Journal, 3-17-24; www.PreachingToday.com).
Well, I can think of a lot better ways to find relief and comfort than talking to a rock, laying in a coffin, or checking into a prison.
Like the Koreans, Americans are also searching for comfort. According to recent survey (2024), only a fifth of Americans have experienced “true comfort” in the past 24 hours. The poll of 2,000 Americans reveals that true comfort—feeling completely relaxed or at ease—can be hard to come by, as just 21% say they’ve been able to reach this state.
According to the survey, the top three ways Americans prefer to find comfort is taking a nap (47%), taking a walk (41%), and having a spa day (36%).
When temperatures drop, respondents say they also find true comfort in taking a hot bath (34%) and creating the perfect temperature at home (25%)—which is 72 degrees Fahrenheit (Patrisha Antonaros, “Only 21% Feel True Comfort Each Day, Survey Reveals,” StudyFinds, 3-23-24; www.PreachingToday.com).
Where do YOU find true comfort these days, especially in the middle of a hectic holiday schedule already upon us? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Isaiah 40, Isaiah 40, where the prophet Isaiah describes a source of comfort better than taking a nap or any pet rock.
Isaiah 40:1-2 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 (ESV).
Isaiah has just described Jerusalem’s upcoming captivity in Babylon (Isaiah 39:5-7). But here, he looks past the hardship of those days to days of peace, hope, and joy.
For God will indeed punish the Jewish people for their sins. Now, the Law required a thief to pay back double what he stole (Exodus 22:4, 7, 9). So when God says He will receive from Jerusalem double for all her sins, He is not punishing her more than she deserves. He is meeting out the exact punishment His law requires.
However, once they have paid for their sins, God will end their hardship and pardon their sin. He will end His war with them and accept them favorably.
That’s where they and you find comfort. Literally, in the Hebrew, you find the ability to breathe again (Keil & Delitzsch). It’s repeated twice in verse 1 for emphasis. In other words, it’s like you’ve been holding your breath for a long time as you endured the suffering, but now you can breathe a big sigh of relief, because God has forgiven you.
Now, while the Jews had to pay for their sins in Babylon, the good news is Jesus paid for your sins on the cross. So breathe again, because God forgives you when you accept Christ’s payment for your sins.
In our day, He already came over 2,000 years ago, but in Isaiah’s day, He was yet to come 700 years later. That’s why Isaiah goes on to say…
Isaiah 40:3-5 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (ESV).
The Lord is coming to reveal His glory, so prepare the way for Him!
Now, in Bible days, when Eastern monarchs traveled through their domain, they sent men before them to prepare their way by removing stones (see Isaiah 62:10), leveling rough places, filling up hollows, cleaning up trash and litter, and generally making the road pleasant and easy for the distinguished travelers and their guests. One legend spoke of Queen Sammuramat, who on one of her journeys came to a rough, mountainous, region. There, she ordered the hills leveled and the hollows filled, which her subjects did at enormous cost. Her aim was not only to ease her journey, but also to leave a lasting monument to herself (Freeman & Chadwick, Manners and Customs of the Bible, p.361, Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998).
Now, all four gospels apply this prophecy to John the Baptist (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; and John 1:23). He is the one who preceded the Messiah and announced His coming to prepare the way for Him. So breathe a big sigh of relief, because your Lord has already come to pardon your sin and reconcile you to Himself. When times are hard…
FIND COMFORT IN THE PROMISE OF ADVENT.
Enjoy peace, because the Peacemaker has already come.
On October 18, 2013 in Buffalo, New York, 37-year-old Darnell Barton was driving a bus filled with high school students over a bridge when he spotted a young woman perched on the wrong side of the guard rail. Sensing something wasn't right, Barton slowed to the side of the busy road and opened the bus door. From his seat behind the steering wheel, the driver called to the woman asking her if she was okay. When the young woman looked at Barton but didn't respond, he left the bus and approached her. Barton told the Buffalo News, “She turned back to look at me and then back at the traffic and that's when I kind of lunged and got my left arm around her body.” Barton proceeded to talk her into climbing back over the guard rail as he guided her with his large arms. Together they sat on the pavement.
A surveillance camera shows a pedestrian and a bicyclist going by the distraught woman without stopping to help. But Barton, who acknowledges having grown up in church, said he could hear his mother's voice in his head prompting him to do the right thing. As a result, he gave her some encouraging words. The two conversed until first responders showed up. Barton told a reporter, “The Bible says we are to be ready in season or out of season. You've got to be ready. If you've got time to do anything you've got time to do the right thing.”
When Barton got back on his bus he received a standing ovation from the high school students. Then he finished his route, wrote up a report, and went home. Nicknamed “Big Country” by his co-workers, there is little doubt that the heroic driver has a big heart (Carolyn Thompson, “NY Bus Driver Saves Woman from Jumping Off Bridge,” Associated Press, 10-30-13; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s a picture of what Jesus can do for you. First, He entered your world; and when you choose to trust Him, He guides you with His strong arms, to gently lead you from distress to wholeness.
Please, trust Him with your life today. When times are hard, find comfort in the promise of Advent. More than that, when times are hard…
FIND CONFIDENCE IN THE PROMISE OF ADVENT, as well.
Count on the promise of Christ’s coming, because His Word cannot fail. His promises persist forever, because He always keeps them.
Isaiah 40:6-8 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever (ESV).
People will fail you, because they’re here today and gone tomorrow. But God’s Word will never fail you, because it persists forever!
1 Peter 1 says, “You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever” (1 Peter 1:23-25).
Your new birth is Christ is secure, because you depended on God’s eternal Word to save you. God’s Holy Spirit moved you to believe God’s Eternal Word, bringing about your eternal salvation. So be confident, because you did not trust in the Word of a man. You trusted in the Word of God.
In his book Rust: The Longest War, Jonathan Waldman takes us chapter by chapter into the world of oxidation and the problem of rust. He tells the story of how America almost lost the Statue of Liberty to corrosion, the constant struggle needed to maintain oil pipelines, the development of stainless steel and rust resistant paint, how aluminum cans are treated to deter oxidation, and of the enormous cost and effort needed to beat back rust in the military—especially the navy's ships.
Rust isn't just annoying; it's expensive and dangerous. On August 1, 2007, a bridge spanning the Mississippi in Minnesota suddenly collapsed during the evening rush hour. The bridge, identified as Bridge 9340 in official records, was rated as the second busiest in the entire state, with 140,000 vehicles crossing it every day. One hundred eleven vehicles rode the surface of the bridge down as much as 115 feet to the surface of the water and riverbank, with 13 people killed and 145 injured. A school bus with 63 children returning from a field trip ended up resting on a guardrail at the bottom.
The collapsed bridge over Mississippi had one cause: oxidation. Iron reacted chemically with oxygen and the result is a reddish product that eats and destroys that we call rust (Jonathan Waldman, Rust: The Longest War, Simon & Schuster, 2015; www.PreachingToday.com).
What seemed permanent eventually gave way to rust, and that’s the way it is with all human efforts—they just don’t last.
Did you know? Of the 500 largest companies in 1955, only sixty remained on the Fortune 500 list 60 years later. Have you heard of American Motors, Brown Shoe, Studebaker, Collins Radio, or Zenith Electronics lately? In 1955, they were among America's most popular brands. They no longer exist. Today, the most well-known companies are Tesla, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, and Netflix (Jeff Meyers, Truth Changes Everything, Baker Books, 2021, p. 217; www.PreachingToday.com).
It makes you wonder if these companies will even be around 60 years from now. Imagine your grandchildren telling their grandchildren, “When I was a kid, we had this thing called Facebook,” or “We used to watch movies on Netflix.”
What seems so permanent today may not even be a distant memory tomorrow. So don’t put too much confidence in human efforts, because they just don’t last. Instead, put your confidence in God’s Word, because it has been changing lives for thousands of years, and it will continue to change lives for thousands of years to come. It will change YOUR life if you let it.
In the 1930s in Stavropol, Russia, Stalin ordered that all Bibles be confiscated and Christian believers be sent to prison camps. Ironically, most of the Bibles were not destroyed, yet many Christians died as “enemies of the state.”
Soon after the Soviet Union dissolved, a CoMission team arrived in Stavropol in 1994 for ministry. Their request to have Bibles shipped to Moscow was being held up. But someone told them about a warehouse outside of town where confiscated Bibles were still stored. Remarkably, the team was granted permission to distribute them. Hiring several local Russian workers, they began to load their trucks.
One young man, a hostile agnostic, came only for the day's wages. But not long after they had started, he disappeared. He was found in the corner of the warehouse, weeping, a Bible in his hands. Intending to steal it for himself, he had picked his own grandmother's Bible off the shelf! Her signature was on the front page. He ended up keeping that Bible, which transformed his life, the same Bible the now defunct Soviet empire tried to eradicate forever (Ken Taylor, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 5; www. PreachingToday.com).
Indeed, “all flesh is like grass… but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
So, even in the midst of your pain, when it seems all is lost, count on God’s Word to you. Depend on His promises, because they will never fail. When life gets hard, find comfort in the promise of Advent, find confidence in the promise of Advent. And finally…
FIND CHEER IN THE PROMISE OF ADVENT, as well.
Discover real joy in the good news of your coming Shepherd. Let the glad tidings of Christmas lift your spirits today.
Isaiah 40:9-11 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 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 (ESV).
Jesus is that strong and mighty Shepherd, who tenderly carries the babies and gently leads their mammas in paths of righteousness.
After Jesus came to our world, He said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:10-15).
Philip Keller beautifully describes the difference between the hired hand and the Good Shepherd. In his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm Twenty-Three, He describes his experience as a shepherd in east Africa. The land adjacent to his was rented out to a tenant shepherd who didn't take very good care of his sheep: his land was overgrazed, eaten down to the ground; the sheep were thin, diseased by parasites, and attacked by wild animals. Keller especially remembered how the neighbor's sheep would line up at the fence and blankly stare in the direction of his green grass and his healthy sheep, almost as if they yearned to be delivered from their abusive shepherd. They longed to come to the other side of the fence and belong to him (Leith Anderson, “The Lord Is My Shepherd,” Preaching Today, Tape 136).
Has the world let you down with its promise of luxury and fame? Do you long for something better? Then come to the Good Shepherd of your soul. He gave His life for you, and He wants to lead you to green pastures and still waters. Please, let Him do it for you. Trust Him with your life and experience the abundant life He promises.
Pastor Leith Anderson from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, talks about his dad who was a pastor for more than 50 years. He conducted numerous funerals where he often told a favorite story about a little boy who was desperately ill. His parents recognized that he probably soon would die. They sent for the local pastor. He came at night to visit the child, who was semiconscious. He was unable to speak and didn’t seem to know that the pastor was there.
The pastor spent some time alone in the child's upstairs room and left late at night. He returned early the next morning after the boy had died. He did his best to console the parents. He prayed with them. He grieved with them.
Later, the parents asked the pastor if he had any explanation for something that had happened. They told the pastor that in the hours before their son died and at the time of his death, he was holding the ring finger of one hand with his other hand. He died in that position.
The pastor then explained what he had said in the child’s room the night before. He said he had taken their son's hand and first held his thumb and had said, “THE—because, we're talking about one of a kind.”
Then he held his next finger and said, “LORD.” For the next finger, he said God himself IS right here. The next finger: MY, speaks of a personal commitment and relationship. For the last finger: SHEPHERD, the one who owns, who died, who cares and loves: Jesus.
While he had not spoken, the child had heard. Before he died, he put his hand around the finger to say, "The Lord is MY shepherd” (Leith Anderson, “The Lord Is My Shepherd,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 136).
Oh, my dear friends, can you say, “The Lord is MY shepherd today?” If you can, you know the peace, the hope, and the joy He brings even in the valley of the shadow of death.
So, when life is hard, find comfort in the promise of Advent, find confidence in the promise of Advent, and find cheer in the promise of Advent.
Anton Chekhov in his story called "The Lament," describes an old man who drives a horse and buggy for hire through the city.
The old man's son had died recently and he wants so desperately to tell someone. A wealthy man hires the horse and buggy for a ride across town. As the wealthy man steps into the carriage, the old man says, "My son, my son. Let me tell you about my son." But the busy man doesn't have time to listen.
Well, after the wealthy man leaves, another man steps into the carriage. He wants to be driven to the other side of the city. Again, the old man says, "My son. My son. Let me tell you about my son." And again, this second man also doesn't bother to listen.
At the end of the day, the old man returns to the stables, unhitches his horse, and as he begins to brush the horse down for the night, the old man begins to tell the horse, "My son. My son." And he tells the horse the tragic story (Christopher de Vinck, Simple Wonders, Zondervan, 1995, page 157; www.PreachingToday.com).
Oh, my dear friends, Jesus has come to hear your story, but not only that, He came to change your story for the better. So tell Him your tragic story. Then, when He fills you with His peace, hope, and joy, tell the world the good news of His story.
Go on up to a high mountain and lift up your voice with strength. Say to the cities of Judah [and the world], “Behold your God!”
