Isaiah 66:13


As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem ~ Isaiah 66:13

We are often in need of comfort from our God, and here the comfort is likened to that of a mother figure. God’s comfort arises, not as that of a stranger, but with the warm affection and indulgent care of a mother. As her attention is prompt, so is God’s, though His is divine in its origin. It is also free. Just as a mother brings herself to the level of her child, and will even deny herself for her child, so God does as well. What the prophet declares here is a promise of consolation. When the trial is over God will be there, just where he always was. We are subject to many fears, to sins which upset us, to discouragements of life, and we may feel we are in danger. “Yet,” says God, “I will deliver you.” Not only will He deliver, but He will instruct and strengthen us. Yet again, not all are participants of this Godly and heavenly consolation, for not all are qualified to enjoy it. This consoling from God comes to those whom have repented and earnestly desire it, for as Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Just as the Jewish people were comforted by God in Babylon, though they underwent much affliction, far greater was their joy and comfort when they returned to their own country. Far greater is our comfort when we return from a far country as well, when we turn from the world and toward God’s country wherein His people dwell. I can find no better place of sensing God’s comfort than to join in worship with His people.
Devotion by Pastor Julia

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