Read: Isaiah 66:13
“As a mother consoles a child, so I will console you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
Understand:
- What does the word console mean to you?
Listen: Merriam Webster defines console as “to alleviate the grief, sense of loss, or trouble of.” I think it’s amazing to look at this definition and compare it to our scripture verse for today because it gives us a glimpse into how God wants to walk us through every difficulty in our lives.
My mom was awesome when it came to consoling me when I was a child. There was just something about the way she would talk to me and comfort me that let me know that everything was going to be okay. Whether it was the cool washcloth she would place across my fevered forehead when I was sick or the baking soda baths she insisted I take when I had the chicken pox, there was just something about the way she did things that was comforting and helped me endure until everything was all better. Let’s look at the definition from Merriam Webster a bit closer but I want to focus on the first part mostly: “to alleviate . . .”
Just as mother would work to alleviate the itchiness from chicken pox or the discomfort of a fever, so God works to alleviate the things we endure in this world. He isn’t just trying to comfort us and tell us that everything is going to be okay. Sometimes, everything isn’t okay and doesn’t work out the way we wanted them to. What it means is that God is working to alleviate, or lessen, the pain we are going through so we can actually bear the weight of it while we are going through it. I can’t imagine what it would be like to not have God helping me through things because sometimes it feels as if the weight is just too much – but it isn’t. God is there and He is keeping me from being crushed. He is alleviating enough pain that I will be able to endure and stand again on my own feet.
I just want to offer encouragement to you when you are bearing a heavy weight. Let God lessen the pain and help you through it. Let Him comfort you just as a mother would comfort their child.
Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for helping us through difficult times. We live in a fallen world where the weight it puts on us feels unbearable sometimes. Help us to remember that You will console us, You will alleviate our pain if we trust in You. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
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