TerryLema

In the evenings before I head to bed, I usually open my laptop, plug in my earbuds, and listen to music or watch good wholesome comedians. Bob has usually found a Gunsmoke or something equally loud and annoying on the television.

For me, Music and Laughter are a delightful way to end my day. The other day I came across an old comedian (can’t remember his name). One of his one-liners struck home. I posted it on my Facebook page as a “meme” that I can own.

He said: “I thought I had arthritis. I don’t. I have early-onset rigor mortis!”

While old age tends to creep up, there is that moment when you realize that it has arrived in all its glory! There is also a time when you tend to look back and see where you have been and what you have done.

In Psalm 34, David asks a question. “Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous?”  [v12 NLT]

It’s a question that most of us would answer “Yes!” We want a long and prosperous life. While “long” is easy to identify and evaluate, “prosperous” is a bit more difficult. What exactly constitutes a “prosperous” life.

Thankfully, David, not only defines a “prosperous” life, but he also reminds us of God’s care for those who seek to live that way. [More tomorrow]

We have spent a few days in Isaiah 40 looking at God’s comfort, at the promise of a way being made in our wilderness, at the revelation of the power of the Promise-Giver and at our role to accept and hope in the Lord. It doesn’t end with acceptance though. There is one last step, and it is found in a passage of Scripture in the New Testament that I just adore. It comes in the beginning of 2Corinthians:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”  [3-5]

The last step of comfort is sharing.

I once worked in an office that had a small kitchen, containing only a tiny sink and fridge. On the side of the sink was the most hideous sponge. It was there when I started work and it was there when I quit years later, and for all I know it is still there. Every morning I yearned to just throw it away. It was brown and obnoxious. I didn’t throw it away though because every time I saw it, I remembered the phrase, “Sit, soak, and sour.” and I remembered that God’s plan for our lives always includes being “squeezed out” for others.

Whatever God brings into our lives is not meant solely for us; it is meant ultimately for others too. I receive forgiveness, I forgive. I am loved, I love. I am given peace, I become a peacemaker. I receive comfort, I give comfort.

God says comfort my people. God gives the promise of the way in the wilderness and the glory of the Lord. God reveals Himself as the true promise-keeper. When I accept that and place my hope in the Lord, my strength is renewed, I soar, I run, I walk … and I share.

What has God brought to you? What promises were given? What revelation received? Have you been renewed? Are you sharing? Don’t just soak and get sour, squeeze yourself out for His people.

Comfort comes with a promise.  Promise gives way to revelation of the power of the Promise-Giver. Isaiah has been given the charge to comfort God’s people in Chapter 40. It came on the heels of God’s message of punishment and captivity for the nation’s sins. God’s comfort came with the promise that a way would be made in the wilderness, and all would see the glory of God. Then promise gave way to revelation that the One who gave the promise was powerful enough to fulfill it.

There is however, a little more to comfort than promise and revelation. I remember a phrase I heard often in Hospice and that is “refusing to be comforted.” No matter what the gift, no matter what the promise, we can refuse to accept it. We can choose to remain in our misery, choose to hold on to our griefs and sorrows.

God asked His people a question, “To whom will you compare me, or who is my equal?”  Then the prophet Isaiah exhorted the nation to, “Look up into the heavens.” [vs 25-26 NLT]

At some point in our need for comfort there must come a determination to accept the comfort promised and given by the Holy One. At some point there must come a shift of focus from our own misery and grief, and we must lift our eyes and look to the heavens.

Isaiah asked Israel in verse 27 why they continued to complain that God was disregarding them. Don’t you know, have you not heard, he said, whom God is and what He wants to provide you? He wants to give you strength when you are weary and power when you are weak. Get your focus off your need and see the promise that is placed before you as a path in the wilderness.

Acceptance of the promise is our part. “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” [vs 31]

Those who hope, accept. God brings comfort through a promise. God brings a revelation of Himself as proof that He can fulfill the promise. Our part is to accept the promise. To lift our eyes from our own needs and look to the heaven … to be “those who hope in the Lord.”

Promises, promises.  How easy it is to say, “I promise,” and for many those two little words are little more than just too little words. My kids would often say, “But Mom, I promise!”  And as a mom I realized they were just hoping to sway me from my chosen course with words, there was little resolve to truly keep the promise.

I’ve done it myself. “Oh God, get me out of this and I promise I’ll never do it again!”  And before I know it, I’m right back in the same situation, hoping once again to sway God from His chosen course with my words.

In Isaiah 40, God told the prophet Isaiah to “Comfort, comfort my people” and He began the message of comfort with a promise, “prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God . . . and the glory of the LORD will be revealed and all mankind together will see it.”  [40:3-5]

God’s promises, however, are never empty as ours often are, and the prophet begins, “A voice said, ‘Shout!’ I asked, ‘What should I shout?’”  Suddenly the promise of comfort gives way to revelation and there begins in verses 6 to 25 a revelation of the Almighty God.  Listen to His words, “the word of our God stands forever . . .the Sovereign LORD comes with power and his arm rules for him . . . He tends his flock like a shepherd . . . He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth . . . He stretches out the heavens like a canopy.” 

That passage ends with the great question, “To whom will you compare me?  Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One.”

Only One as great as the Holy One can truly bring lasting comfort.  A comfort that begins with a promise and then gives way to revelation of the Promise-Giver. Who is equal to our God?  He and He alone can back up the wonderful promises that have been made.

One of the toughest things as a parent was when I had to punish my kids after they did something wrong. Even knowing correction was necessary if my kids were going to grow up as strong, caring, and good people, I hated it. And my immediate reaction once the punishment was given was to bring comfort.

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”  That was the charge given to Isaiah in Chapter 40, following God’s message of impending captivity in Chapter 39 as punishment for Israel’s sins.

The prophet declares in verses 3-5 words that are so familiar to us, “Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, ‘Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!’” [NLT]

God’s way of comforting His people began with a promise, a promise that in the wilderness a way would be made. Just as Eastern monarchs would send heralds ahead of them to smooth out obstacles, make ways over valleys and level out hills, so Israel’s God would make a way for them in the wilderness also. And when that way was made, the “glory of the LORD [would] be revealed.”

For the nation of Israel, the promise spoke of a way being made in her current wilderness of sin and punishment. Even though captives in a strange and brutal land, God would bring her back, restoration would take place, and Israel would once again dwell in her own land.

Matthew applied this prophecy to an even greater wilderness.  He announced that John the Baptist was the voice crying in the wilderness making the way for the Messiah who was to be revealed shortly. John was the voice removing the obstacles, leveling the mountains, building bridges over the valleys, announcing that the glory of the LORD was now revealed in God’s chosen Son, Jesus the Messiah, and all mankind together would see Him.

Right in the middle of the Bible is a marvelous chapter in the Book of Isaiah. That chapter opens “’Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God.” [40:1 NLT]

Comfort. Assistance or support, consolation in time of worry or trouble, cheer, relief or encouragement, solace, compassion, and pity, it doesn’t seem to matter whether it is a Hebrew word, a Greek word, or an English word, comfort is the same in any language.

I have often heard the phrase in church that “God doesn’t let us get too comfortable.” When I think of the definition of the word comfort, I’m not so sure that’s true. Instead, I think the phrase should be “God doesn’t let us get complacent.” God doesn’t want us self-satisfied or smug, but I truly believe God wants us comforted.

When God told Isaiah the prophet to “Comfort, comfort my people,” it was right after Hezekiah had received envoys from the king of Babylon. During that visit Hezekiah had shown these envoys all the wealth of his kingdom and when questioned by the prophet Isaiah, Hezekiah had admitted “They saw everything … I showed them everything I own—all my royal treasuries.”  [39:4-6 NLT]

In response the prophet told Hezekiah that the time was coming when everything of value, even the king’s descendants, would be carried off to the evil, idolatrous nation of Babylon as punishment for Israel’s sins. Yet, the words of doom are barely out of his mouth when God begins to bring words of comfort. Over the next few days, I want to look at Isaiah’s words of comfort found in Chapter 40.

I will honestly admit that I need God’s comfort every day.

I started a new devotional in 2025, “God is With You Every Day: 365-Day Devotional,” by Max Lucado. I kept up with it daily until the last week of February. I wasn’t feeling very well that week and I just did what I had to do and spent the rest of the time dozing in my recliner.

On March 1, I realized I had fallen behind and decided to catch up. Bob was out for breakfast with a friend. I had about a week’s worth of my devotions drafted. So, I opened Lucado’s devotional and began to read. I was almost caught up when I got hung up on this sentence. “You were made for more than wandering in the wilderness.”

I checked and the current world population is 8,208,709,800 as of Tuesday, March 4, 2025 (according to the most recent United Nations estimates elaborated by Worldometer). You and I are one of 8.2 billion people. As the world views me, I am just one of the masses, insignificant except to a few other “insignificants.”

God, however, does not see us the way the world does. He SEES us. He has given us a PURPOSE. He has PLANS for us.

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” [Jeremiah 29:11 NLT]

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” [Ephesians 2:10 NLT]

We certainly are made for more than wandering in the wilderness.

The Ways of the Lord are made for walking! [Hosea 14:9]

The Ways of the Lord are made for singing! [Psalm 138:4-6]

The Ways of the Lord are made for watching! [Psalm 25:10-15]

The Ways of the Lord are made for worshipping! [2Chronicles 17:3-6]

There is one last thing. At the end of David’s life, as he looked back at what God had done, David noted that the ways of the Lord bring victory. You will find His words in 2 Samuel 22 and in Psalm 18.

“David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: ‘The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior- from violent men you save me. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies … For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God.’” [Psalm 18:1-21]

The Ways of the Lord are made for keeping!

David understood that the reason he was victorious, the reason he was delivered from all his enemies was that he kept the Ways of the Lord. And even when he failed, he immediately repented and returned to the Lord. By keeping the Ways of the Lord, David knew firsthand what it meant to have the Lord as his rock, as his fortress and deliverer, as his refuge, shield, and horn of salvation, as his stronghold and as his Savior.

We cannot experience that kind of victory unless we also keep the Ways of the Lord.

The Ways of the Lord are made for keeping!

The Ways of the Lord are made for walking! [Hosea 14:9]

The Ways of the Lord are made for singing! [Psalm 138:4-6]

The Ways of the Lord are made for watching! [Psalm 25:10-15]

2Chronicles 17:3-6 talk about King Jehoshaphat.  God was with the King and notes that Jehoshaphat’s “heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD.”

 “The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel…. His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.”  [NIV]

The Ways of the Lord are made for worshipping!

The notable thing in this passage about Jehoshaphat is that He worshipped God singularly. He did not follow the pagan practices that Israel had developed. He did not allow the high places of idolatry or the pagan worship symbols to remain but instead removed them from the nation. He worshipped God and God alone.

Our hearts are to be singularly devoted to the ways of God. We are not to be half-hearted. We are not to allow idols to develop in our lives. Granted, none of us probably has an Asherah pole in our backyard, but we may have created an idol in our 401K or in another person, or a hobby, or a religion, or a political party, or a practice or an attitude.

The Lord God Almighty is to be the center of our lives; we were made to worship, to honor, to adore Him and Him alone.

The Ways of the Lord are made for worshipping!

The Ways of the Lord are made for walking!  The righteous will walk in them. [Hosea 14:9]

The ways of the Lord are made for singing!  The humble will sing and truly proclaim the glory of the Lord and God will dwell in those praises; to those who remain proud of heart God will remain far away. [Psalm 138:4-6]

Psalm 25:10-15 declares that “the Ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”  [NIV]

The Ways of the Lord are made for watching!

God reminds us that His ways are loving and faithful to those who remain watchful of them. God does His part. God instructs us in the way chosen for us. God confides in those of us who fear Him. God makes His covenant known to us. God releases our feet from the snare of the enemy.

For those who keep their eyes upon Him, for those who respect and fear Him, for those who repent when they find they have sinned, He is “faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  [1 John 1:9 NIV]

Our part is to keep the demands of His ways, and to seek forgiveness when we fail. Our part is to keep our eyes ever on the Lord.

The Ways of the Lord are made for watching!