The book of Isaiah holds some wonderful lessons and makes some lofty promises to us; promises about what God can do for us - wants so very much to do for us - if we will let Him. But there is a price of sorts to be paid.
"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God." (Isa 40:1) The world is full of hurting and comfortless hearts, and God commands us to offer comfort to them. But before you will be ready for this ministry you must be trained. And your training will be costly, for to make it complete, you must also endure the same afflictions that are wringing blood and tears from countless hearts.
As a result, your own life becomes the hospital ward where you are taught the divine art of comfort. you will be wounded so that the Great Physician can show you first hand how to render first aid to the wounded everywhere.
Do you ever wonder why you have had to experience such gut-wrenching sorrow or excruciating pain? In coming years you will find many others afflicted in the same way. You will tell them how you suffered and were comforted. As the story unfolds, God will apply the anesthetic He once used on you to them. Then, in the eager look followed by the gleam of hope that chases the specter of despair from the soul, you will know why you were afflicted. And you will bless God for the discipline that filled your life with such a treasure of experience and hopefulness.
God comforts us not to make us comfortable but to make us comforters.
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