At the Lowest Point

"Comfort, comfort my people,

says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and proclaim to her that her 

hard service has been completed,

that her sin has been paid for,

that she has received from the LORD's hand

double for all her sins.

A voice of one calling:

'In the wilderness prepare

the way for the LORD;

make straight in the desert

a highway for our God.'"

Isaiah 40:1-3

Judah suffered greatly.  The people experienced tumult and chaos within their own nation, followed by the promise of exile for 70 years.  They were certainly at a low point and must have felt much despair.  As if to showcase His own heart of God, He did not kick His wayward and rebellious people when they were down. Even though they deserved it.  Instead, He offered something unbelievable.  He offered comfort, relief, and hope.  

This, too, is offered to 21st Century people immersed in a culture that has sunk to a low point.  There is blessing offered in the midst of the grief caused by unchecked wickedness.  Even though it seems there is no hope of crawling out of this pit, in Jesus, God is offering something incredible.

Comfort.  He doesn't enjoy watching His image-bearers suffer.  He is loving and kind, compassionate and patient.  But God is also perfectly holy and just, righteous and good.  He can't simply stand by and let sin ruin His creation unchecked.  Sin must be punished according to His own sense of right and wrong (Romans 6:23, Galatians 6:7).  Still, with all His heart He wants to avoid unleashing His holy wrath on any of mankind (2 Peter 3:9).  So He waits, He pursues, He sometimes introduces trials and tribulations that seem so unbearable but are designed to knock us to our knees where we will repent and turn to Him through faith in Jesus, the only way to be saved from His righteous judgement (John 14:6, Acts 4:12).

This is the heart of God.  He cannot change with the times like shifting shadows and is unable to deny any part of His character, yet His love is so strong that it drives Him to comfort the very ones upon whom He's punishing (James 1:17, 2 Corinthians 1:3).  After all, His objective is to draw people to Himself where each will find peace and fulfillment along with salvation from eternal condemnation (John 6:44, Romans 8:1, Romans 5:1).  He wants relationship with those He made who are more valuable than any other living creature.  It is man, broken and unrepentant as we are, that He wants to love.

At my lowest point, when God seems to have turned His back on mankind, He offers comfort in the midst of the pain and suffering.

Relief.  It's hard for me to pace myself if I don't know the end is coming.  If I'm enduring a grueling workout, for instance, it helps to spur me on if I can shoot for the finish line, so to speak.  If I had to keep grunting and sweating indefinitely, it would be very hard to push through the pain.  Humans need to know that relief is coming.

It's the same with life. When I'm weathering the storm, it's good to know the clouds will soon break up and the sun burst through.  To know the suffering is temporary and relief is coming helps me to carry on.  This relief comes through faith in Jesus Christ.  When I wait on Him, I can tap into His abundant, never-ending supply of grace that propels me forward when I'm weary from the struggle (Isaiah 40:31).  He offers relief, not always from the suffering itself but from the impotence I feel to endure the present hardship.  When I am weak, then I am strong because Jesus is my strength (2 Corinthians 12:10).

At my lowest point, when God seems to have turned His back, He offers relief that empowers me to soar even though I feel like giving up.

Hope.  The prophecy was intentionally given at the point when God had unleashed His righteous fury upon His own.  He did so not to see them suffer, but to draw them back to Him and His perfect plan for their lives.  They had fallen so far, forgotten everything He had taught them, and turned to their own wicked ways.  Sound familiar?

We, too, have fallen so far, forgotten everything He taught us, and have turned to our own wicked ways (Isaiah 53:6).  In the midst of such brokenness, God offers hope in the name of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah who would come to make mankind right with God.  While theirs was a hope deferred, mine is a hope realized.  Today, all have the opportunity to turn away from the destructive ways that come naturally to man and toward Christ who took the punishment for all sin (1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:5).  When I do so, I have the hope that this present darkness will not last forever.  The Light has overcome (John 1:5, 16:33).

At my lowest point, when God seems to have turned His back on mankind, He offers hope in the person of Jesus Christ.  

There is blessing to be found in the midst of pain and suffering.  The difficulties of life are all due to mankind's sin.  And while it is because of this sin that I am broken and deserve God's wrath, it is in the midst of feeling the consequences of this sin that I find treasure.  I discover that God can comfort in a way no one else can, that He offers relief from the burdens I carry, and hope for a future of bliss.  All of this is mine through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.  Even at my lowest point, God is offering something good.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can stop taking advantage of God's patience and turn my life over to Jesus.

When do I bide my time, figuring I have tomorrow to live by faith in Jesus?

How am I stubborn in my desire to control my own life, thus reaping what I've sown, lashing out at God who waits patiently?