I often share my interest in the various translations of the Bible and how folks will take six words of a single translation and build a new religion on it rather than being humble in seeking to understand the wisdom the Bible imparts to our lives.
So it is such a delight when there is a passage that just can not easily be twisted, a passage that, in such a few words, paints a very clear and joyous picture that even someone hearing it for the first time will immediate feel a deep connection.
In Isaiah 66, verse 13 we read, "The Lord says, 'As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.'”
Even if we have not ourselves been blessed with a mother who comforts, the picture is so universal that it is clearly and powerfully catches the heart in a moment.
This this is exactly how God longs to comfort us at all times and in all places. God longs to wrap us in an awareness of God's presence, to be given an opportunity to point out the wonders of the stars and sun and moon, tall mountains, endless deserts, ceaselessly rolling oceans and let what we can see and feel and hear offer a deeply comforting though hazy glimpse of the glory of God, the power of God, the Love that is God.
At our most desperate and self-destructive moments, God lays a cool hand on our fevered brow, wooing us, calling us, longing to pour out healing and hope and restoration if only we are willing to stop fighting and surrender to the love and light and truth that seeks to restore us to a life of purpose and peace.
O Jehovah Japtha, You reveal Yourself to us as the God of Healing. My life is broken, my heart is broken, I am such a mess it is hard to believe You don't find me as disgusting and reprehensible as I find myself. But You do not turn Your back on me, you do not condemn me, because Christ our Lord has washed all that away, no matter how I feel. So I beg of you, in the name of the Shepard, the Redeemer, with the help of the Spirit of God, help me see myself as you see me, full of promise and created with a purpose for which I am uniquely created and refined. AMEN
O, and Lord, can you please let me shine this same light into the lives of my children and all those I love and all those I meet! Thank you so much! AMEN
So it is such a delight when there is a passage that just can not easily be twisted, a passage that, in such a few words, paints a very clear and joyous picture that even someone hearing it for the first time will immediate feel a deep connection.
In Isaiah 66, verse 13 we read, "The Lord says, 'As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.'”
Even if we have not ourselves been blessed with a mother who comforts, the picture is so universal that it is clearly and powerfully catches the heart in a moment.
This this is exactly how God longs to comfort us at all times and in all places. God longs to wrap us in an awareness of God's presence, to be given an opportunity to point out the wonders of the stars and sun and moon, tall mountains, endless deserts, ceaselessly rolling oceans and let what we can see and feel and hear offer a deeply comforting though hazy glimpse of the glory of God, the power of God, the Love that is God.
At our most desperate and self-destructive moments, God lays a cool hand on our fevered brow, wooing us, calling us, longing to pour out healing and hope and restoration if only we are willing to stop fighting and surrender to the love and light and truth that seeks to restore us to a life of purpose and peace.
O Jehovah Japtha, You reveal Yourself to us as the God of Healing. My life is broken, my heart is broken, I am such a mess it is hard to believe You don't find me as disgusting and reprehensible as I find myself. But You do not turn Your back on me, you do not condemn me, because Christ our Lord has washed all that away, no matter how I feel. So I beg of you, in the name of the Shepard, the Redeemer, with the help of the Spirit of God, help me see myself as you see me, full of promise and created with a purpose for which I am uniquely created and refined. AMEN
O, and Lord, can you please let me shine this same light into the lives of my children and all those I love and all those I meet! Thank you so much! AMEN
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