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May the waste places of your life, the barren and the desolate, break forth into joyous praise. For the Rewarder of your faith comforts you by redeeming, restoring and rebuilding you. And obstacles that loom in your path as mighty mountains will become level ground as you walk in His will, in the power of His Spirit, making the prayer of the psalmist yours, so that the Lord may do His wonderful work of grace in you, to minister in your circumstance and lead you in the path of progress, towards where He wants you to be. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; May Your good Holy Spirit lead me on level ground. [Psalm 143:10]
A moving forward that is undeterred by circumstantial evidence is how it can be described, for looking around it can be clearly seen that it is a downhill journey that lies ahead everywhere. But the pandemic that has brought the world to it’s knees, is not a surprise to the Lord God who can raise you up in the midst of it, when you hold on to Him in faithful trust. It is what happened in the life of Ruth, when everything seemed lost in her life, and she chose to trust in the Lord God of Israel, as her refuge, and was rewarded by Him ‘The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel under whose wings you have come for refuge’. [Ruth 2:12] It is the good word of God that comes to you, the promise of reward in your life, when you focus upon Him in faith, instead of being bowed down by your circumstance.
And a wonderful aspect of His reward, is the comfort that He gives you, a consolation concerning your past that could have been painful, and encouragement for your future. It is a comfort that He works out in His compassion, and His companionship, His ever abiding presence. You need not fear evil therefore, even in the dark valleys of life, when there seems to be no light ahead to lead you forward. He is the God of all comfort, who comforts you in every kind of discomfort and discouragement.
The human element :
And there is often the human element that is involved. For, He brings people in your path, who are instruments of comfort in your life, and also that your comfort may overflow to be a channel of blessing in the lives of others who are in need of it. And you do not have to look very far for people needing comfort these days, when painful loss has been the experience of many broken hearts all around. And, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’, are the blessed Savior’s words. Comfort is the blessing of God. And the certainty of His comfort, when you believe in faith, can be so very reassuring, even in this time of uncertainty when the word ‘surely’ seems to be almost an impossibility. But the truth of God’s word remains settled forever, declaring ‘The Lord will surely comfort Zion, and have compassion on all her ruins’. [Isaiah 51:3]
HIS sure comfort – a transformation :
He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. [Isaiah 51:3] It is the beautiful picture of the blessing of God’s comfort; one that has been prepared for you that you may walk in it, and see it come to pass in your life. There will be times of refreshing in the areas of your life that have become dry and parched, due to the virus taking it’s toll on you in various ways. For, life as you and I have known it to be, the ordinary routine of it that gives a sense of security, now in many ways lies in ruins. There is a broken rhythm to it, that is harsh and painful, requiring a rework or a rebuilding that involves a tearing down of the old to be built a new. And the Almighty God, the Builder and Maker of all things will surely and certainly accomplish it in your life, in every area of it that has been damaged. It is how His comfort is His blessing upon you.
And it carries with it a divine expectation, for it is the Lord who will surely comfort Zion; it is going to be His doing, and certainly therefore, it will be something beyond your human expectation. Nothing is wasted or cast aside when it is in His hand for He is the God who causes all things to work together for good in your life, when you love Him, and have been called according to His purpose. [Romans 8:28]
Redeemed and rebuilt a new :
It is how God rebuilds your life that could be seemingly ruined, for closed shutters that signify lack and loss is what you see all around you, with no sign of a sure turn around. But redemption and restoration is the theme that runs through the Bible right from the very beginning. For, when Adam sinned it seemed as if God’s glorious purpose and design in the creation of the world had gone amiss. But it was not so, as God sent His Son, who gave His life on the Cross, that in Him, you may have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And restoration, the beautiful scene of what is to come, is the truth of the book of Revelation. It is the big picture, the grand scheme of things, God’s plan for all of humanity, that with a right understanding of it, as more than just doctrine, becomes personal and specific, for the here and now, even in your present circumstance.
It will give clarity, in the midst of all the uncertainty. And by a practical application of it, it is a wondrous restoration that will be the story of your life. And there is also a higher purpose to His comfort that blesses you. For, He comforts you in His loving embrace, and also empowers you, making you special, that you may make a difference in the lives of others. Put simply, He does what He does through you. It is how He rebuilds your life even if in your eyes it seems to be irrevocably damaged. And therefore you can ‘Shout for joy’! – Break forth, shout joyfully together, You ruins of Jerusalem; For the Lord has comforted His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem. [Isaiah 52:9] [AMP]
Redemption and comfort go hand in hand in the rebuilding process of God, that leads to a restoration of all that has been broken, or stripped away, and left you crippled in life, grappling with the effect of a pandemic that seems to be insidiously spreading with no end in sight in the near future. But, you have a Living Redeemer, who can intervene in your situation, as He did in the life of Job, that you may also proclaim, ‘I know my Redeemer lives’! He has redeemed you, and is rebuilding you. The ultimate fulfillment of it all, the full taste of it is what is going to be your inheritance in heaven, but the foretaste of it is the redemption and rebuilding that the Lord works in you, here and now, in the midst of a hugely challenging crisis that has thrown normal life as you and I know it, out of gear.
And the life of Job is a valuable lesson that points you in the right direction, to never give up on your relationship with God and what matters to Him, but to remain submitted to Him in prayer and faithful obedience. Job ministered in the lives of others, while he was still in the valley of suffering and loss, according to God’s word to him. [Job 42:9] And there was a miraculous two fold restoration in his life, from the hand of the Redeemer, a rebuilding of his life that saw his latter days being greater than the former. There was also in the days of the Lord, a woman who was bent and could not straighten herself for eighteen long years, crippled by a spirit of infirmity. But, she was in the house of God, hearing His teaching, instead of moving away from Him. And, she received a miracle from the Savior, on one extraordinary day, to be straightened and set free. [Luke 13:10-17]
He is the God who has made all things beautiful in His time. Therefore as you hold on to Him in faith and trust, you are always on the verge of a miracle! For, nothing can come between you and the plans that God has for you. He has heard your every prayer, as you called out to Him in earnest supplication, to answer you, by showing you, great and mighty things that you do not know, bringing you health and healing, and revealing to you an abundance of peace and truth. [Jeremiah 33:3-6] But it is also very true that thoughts of doubt and anxiety can arise to trouble you, for the devil is a mastermind in it. And, studying the life of Job, one can see that he had his ups and downs , as he struggled to find a reason for his suffering. On hearing from the Lord though, he repented. And God is mindful of your human frailty too. He looks upon your moaning and cries of weakness and weariness with understanding, to hear the essence of your prayer.
Job was challenged to pray for others, his friends who in fact only increased his discomfort, instead of being immersed in his own present suffering. And as he in obedience prayed, God brought people to him, his relatives and acquaintances to contribute and participate in the joy of his restoration. [Job 42:11] It was an integral part of the Lord’s rebuilding of his life, and will be yours too, a foretaste of the fullness of joy that will be your experience in heaven. He sent His Only Begotten Son, to forgive, heal and comfort you, that you may live a life worth living, just because He lives. It is His majestic redemption story.
God works through people, however insignificant they may be, to bless you, and also that you may be a blessing in their lives. It is the fulfillment of His promise to you, and every heart that is broken, every life that is in ruins, the people who are mourning, in the aftermath of wave upon wave of a destructive virus ‘The Lord will surely comfort Zion’. [Isaiah 51:2] And the good news of salvation, announced by the Savior, as He stood up to read the prophecy concerning Himself, describes the wondrous transformation, that He is going to accomplish in your life in the coming days, as He comforts you. And He does it to give you a glorious purpose.
COMFORT-built on the inside to build outside :
And they shall rebuild the old ruins; They shall raise up the former desolations; And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. [Isaiah 61:4] This will be your portion, as God builds you up on the inside, to build outside. It has been a time of mourning, of suffering and loss in various ways, in the lives of people. And to the one who is broken and mourning on the inside, He is the good news, as He heals the broken-hearted with the joy of His salvation. God will comfort and transform your life, giving you a garland instead of ashes, as He beautifies and adorns your life with the glory of His salvation. And instead of a depressing spirit that is pulling you down, He will give you a mantle of praise, as He touches your mouth to give you a new song, one of rejoicing. [Isaiah 61:3]
In this season of negativity and grief that has suddenly descended upon us, even if there is a black hole of depression on the inside of you, God can work it out, to remove it, and rebuild and restore you to your former glory, as He gives you a spirit of power, love and sound mind. It is what He is doing in you, even now. He is a faithful God who remains forever faithful, rebuilding and restoring, building you up on the inside. Therefore, having experienced the joyous foretaste of His redemptive healing and restoration in you, knowing that the ultimate full taste of it is what is going to be revealed to you in heaven, the coming days will see you rebuilding and restoring the waste and desolate places, what has been written off as beyond repair, by the world. God will bring people, whose lives are in ruins to you, for He is the Magnificent Healer, Repairer and Restorer. And He will manifest it, as He works it out in and through you, so that His Name may be glorified, and you may be blessed, to be a blessing. In the Name of Christ Jesus, Amen.
