Comfort My people!

There have been many seasons in my life where I felt "comfortable". Usually that means that I have settled in and developed a routine. As I was reading the first two verses of Isaiah 40, I noticed something about being "comfortable"...

"Comfort, oh comfort my people," says your God."Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem, but also make it very clear. That she has served her sentence, that her sin is taken care of—forgiven! She's been punished enough and more than enough, and now it's over and done with."

I receive comfort for one very important reason...to share it and help someone else feel it. I am realizing that there are times when I do not want to stretch out and comfort others because I am enjoying my own feelings of comfort. But as I press through and begin to esteem others before me, God begins to work in me too. Isaiah was comforting the people with words from the Lord that they had done their time and now God was about to turn it all around. You and I help that turnaround by looking for other people that need comfort and doing for them what the Lord has done for us. Did God just send you a check in the mail that was unexpected? Why not take a portion and surprise someone close that needs some financial comfort? Maybe this week someone bought your lunch. Turnaround and comfort someone else with a complimentary meal.

One way to bring comfort to a situation is to come into it with peace and joy. Notice the bible says to "speak softly and tenderly. As you prepare for your Thanksgiving meal, think about the ways in which you can become a "comforter". You can do it...when Jesus rose from the dead His word says that He sent to us a "comforter". There is one called alongside to help you and I navigate our faith walk and bring comfort to others.

Don't get out of your comfort zone...enlarge it!