Comfort

“I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners”.  Isaiah 57:18 

Comfort – This root (naham) is translated several ways.  It can mean to be sorry, to repent, to regret or to be comforted.  It seems to have come from a word meaning “to breathe deeply” as an expression of intense feelings.  This is usually an expression of sorrow or compassion.  When the word is used in the context of repent, it usually refers to God’s repentance, not to man’s repentance.  When it is used of God, it does not mean that God shows regret for evil acts but rather that God changes His plans for men based on the choices we make. 

Can you imagine that!  God can actually take the mess that we have made and rewrite our lives to still fulfill His purposes.  So many times we think that we have blown it.  We just create disasters.  We feel like life is over.  But God says that He can make the changes needed to restore us.

The fact that the same word has connections to repentance and to comfort is particularly significant.  Turning from our old way of living to God’s way is the meaning of repentance.  It is also an action that brings great comfort.  Repentance itself is the first stage of divine comfort for in repentance we allow God to find us.  It seems especially poignant that this word should come from a root that implies breathing deeply.  Until we gave up our old ways and turned to God (repented), we could never feel that deep breath of clean, fresh air.  We gasped and choked on our guilt and shame.  We were suffocating ourselves with a life choked in sin.  There is real comfort in being able to breath again for it is the sign of new life.  Fill your lungs with clean air today and know that the old stale ways are gone.

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