“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you..” Isaiah 66:13
Sisters in Christ,
Our hearts are still reeling with the loss and destruction of Lahaina town. Too many lives were lost in the midst of the firestorm, and the devastation that remains in the wake of this tragedy will continue to bring painful memories. Many survivors shared that living through the Lahaina fires was like seeing a glimpse of hell on earth, but Pastor Steve Santos from Calvary Chapel Lahaina shared a beautiful word in 1 Kings 19:11-13 that the Lord wasn’t in the winds, the earthquake, or in the fire, but He was in the still small voice that called to Elijah. The Lord was meeting and reaching out to Elijah in his despair, and though the mighty natural disasters happened all around him, God’s voice was one of soothing comfort and calm.
Through the disasters and heartache in life, the God of comfort is ever present and desiring to bring peace, restoration, and new life. I think of the disciples in the many storms and waves of despair, and how Jesus called them to faith and peace as He calmed the disasters around them with His still small voice, “Peace! Be still” (Mark 4:39). In Isaiah 66:13, God calls out to His people to ease their anxious and hurting hearts, just as a mother comforts her scared, hurting child. A mother restores her child from fear to confidence, from hurt to healed, and from despair to delight. Our God calls us near to comfort us in an even greater way.
The Lord still reaches out to His people, extending love and lavishing grace to those that will respond to His call “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream..” (Isaiah 66:12). Our God wants to pour out comfort on His people in the midst of the storms in and around them, as it is only through His comforting hand that we have true and eternal flourishing and rejoicing (Isaiah 66:13-14). He is ever present, and continues to call and bring us back to His good plan (2 Tim 1:9).
It is for this reason we push on and draw near to the Lover of our souls, responding to His still small voice and receiving the comfort which restores our hearts. In 2 Corinthians 1:4 it says, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” Let’s be a people known by pouring out the comfort which we have received from Him, and pray for those in our lives to also hear His still small voice in the disasters around us.
Looking to Jesus,
Jaime Angel