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3.17.2020 – The Lord Comforts

There are times when the Lord puts a heavy burden on my heart to pray… and I have no doubt it’s Him calling me to it, I have no doubt that it’s urgent, because in those moments, it’s like I have to get on my knees, it’s like I have to get on my face, it’s like I have to cry out and weep before Him…

Yesterday was one of those times, and I just poured myself out to Him in prayer for all that is going on in our country, in our world, all of the things we are facing, all of the things we could be facing…

I just took some time to have a heart to heart with my Heavenly Father about it all, to cry out until all of the words came out, until all of the tears were emptied out.

As I began to feel the burden lift, as I began to feel the tears lessen, I asked Him,

“Father, will You give me comfort through Your Word right now? I need comfort, I need to hear from You God…”

I opened my bible straight up to Isaiah 51, specifically verses 10-16. This morning I wanted to share the full chapter because I felt it was extremely relevant for this day and time:

Isaiah 51 New King James Version

The Lord Comforts Zion

51 Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,

And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone,
And blessed him and increased him.”

For the Lord will comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
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.

“Listen to Me, My people;
And give ear to Me, O My nation:
For law will proceed from Me,
And I will make My justice rest
As a light of the peoples.

My righteousness is near,
My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait upon Me,
And on My arm they will trust.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not be abolished.

“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
You people in whose heart is My law:
Do not fear the reproach of men,
Nor be afraid of their insults.
For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool;
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation from generation to generation.”

Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord!

Awake as in the ancient days,
In the generations of old.
Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart,
And wounded the serpent?

10 Are You not the One who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the depths of the sea a road
For the redeemed to cross over?
11 So the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness;
Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid
Of a man who will die,
And of the son of a man who will be made like grass?
13 And you forget the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth;
You have feared continually every day
Because of the fury of the oppressor,
When he has prepared to destroy.
And where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed,
That he should not die in the pit,
And that his bread should not fail.
15 But I am the Lord your God,
Who divided the sea whose waves roared—
The Lord of hosts is His name.
16 And I have put My words in your mouth;
I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
That I may plant the heavens,
Lay the foundations of the earth,
And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”

God’s Fury Removed

17 Awake, awake!
Stand up, O Jerusalem,
You who have drunk at the hand of the Lord
The cup of His fury;
You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling,
And drained it out.
18 There is no one to guide her
Among all the sons she has brought forth;
Nor is there any who takes her by the hand
Among all the sons she has brought up.
19 These two things have come to you;
Who will be sorry for you?—
Desolation and destruction, famine and sword—
By whom will I comfort you?
20 Your sons have fainted,
They lie at the head of all the streets,
Like an antelope in a net;
They are full of the fury of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.

21 Therefore please hear this, you afflicted,
And drunk but not with wine.
22 Thus says your Lord,
The Lord and your God,
Who pleads the cause of His people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
The cup of trembling,
The dregs of the cup of My fury;
You shall no longer drink it.
23 But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you,
Who have said to you,
‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’
And you have laid your body like the ground,
And as the street, for those who walk over.”

Thank You, Father. My trust is in You. ☀️Forgive me for swaying in my faith, when I am tempted to give into fear. Thank You for reminding me that, no matter how things may appear all around me, no matter how it seems things are going to go, You are trustworthy, You are good. You love us, and You are for us, and not against us. But God, those of us who are asleep, those who are in slumber, may they be be awakened! Revive us, God! May the Light of Christ shine brighter than ever before in this dark and weary earth. May we be Your light in this darkness. ?

-Heather ?

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