Why God Comforts Us

If I was to ask you what about God you think brings comfort to your distress, what would your answer be?

I’m guessing His love, compassion, grace, mercy and patience. But Isaiah shares with us something we would not normally expect as an aspect of Gods person that brings us comfort in Isaiah 40.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭14‬ (‭ESV‬‬) “Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?”

The characteristics here listed in Isaiah 40 are unexpected sources of our comfort. First, we know that God knows better than us. So we are comforted to know that what we don’t understand, He does. What we can’t comprehend or figure out, He already has mastered at every turn! The lives of God’s people are never without answers because the One with all of the answers is guiding them through all of life’s ups and downs. 

Moving on…

Isaiah 40:15-17 (ESV) Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. 16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. 17 All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

God’s immensity over all the nations brings His people comfort as well. Consider the history of the world - wars, genocide, holocausts, the sick and perverted ways dictators, facings and heads of state have sought god-like status among the rest of the nations. But Isaiah is clear - all the nations (not just one nation) ALL of the nations are NOTHING before God. Therefore, we are comforted knowing the great King is over every other king, no matter how awful and impressive that king may seem. We have a connection with the ONE who is over whoever is over us.  

Then Isaiah proceeds to give us clarity regarding the vain things we tend to trust that offer nothing back:

Isaiah 40:19–20 (ESV) An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.  20  He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. 

These verses make the idol worshipper look ridiculous. A man hires a craftsman to build him a statue and then he spends his life worshipping it. Our modern sensibilities scorn his foolishness. But we worship homes, cars, hobbies, sports stars, celebrities and other ridiculous created things crafted to seem glorious today. 

It may seem offensive, but the belittling of our idols is also a source of God’s comfort. For when we see them for what they are before Him, we are turned away from them and toward HIM. Then we come to the One who is creating us in His image, and conforming us to the person of Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory. 

This is just the middle of this tremendous chapter and we have more to say on this matter. But what we can take away first is that our idea of how God comforts us and how God comforts us is often very different. Let us look not to our own imaginations but His truth to find the true comfort we desperately need.