Be Comforted

1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone
and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over
for all her sins.”
3 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!
4 Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.
5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
The LORD has spoken!”
Isaiah 40:1-5

I’m not sure there is any more important message that any of us could receive this Christmas than, “Be comforted.” Christmas is that time of year when many of us are struggling with past years' pains. Whether grief, loneliness, or depression, Christmas is that time of year that many struggle, while others have the best time with family and friends.

But this year, with the turmoil of both the pandemic and the election, life has been less normal than any other year in our lives. Most of us have been touched by the Pandemic because we all know someone who has lost a family member or suffered seriously at the hands of this deadly virus.

The whole Christmas season is not only about remembering the first coming of Christ to Bethlehem but also focuses on the coming of Christ in the future. We are to look back upon Christ’s Bethlehem birth in celebration and looking forward in eager anticipation to the coming of Christ’s kingdom when he returns for his people.

Today's passage is marked by the word “comfort” twice in the first verse. Christmas is a season that brings us comfort. The comfort of knowing that Jesus was going to come and did, in fact, come to Bethlehem and that he will return to usher in the new age. Authentically, he comes into the lives of people today and brings comfort. For those of us who have been bruised, battered, and unhealthy this past year, Jesus comes. He came and burst into my existence initially as a child, but he still comes today, bursting into our existence with healing in his hands and changing human lives.

He came first in his birth at Bethlehem, and he will come again in all his glory to usher in a new age.

Triple D: Invite Jesus into your existence and let him change your life. And during this Christmas season, allow the Lord to bring you comfort.