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"Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isaiah 40:1-5).
December would be a rather pleasant month if it weren’t for traffic and lines.
Has the traffic light at West County Center and Manchester Road been tinkered with? It seems to stop my homeward journey more frequently in December, as cars flow into and out of the mall. Trips to the grocery store for that last-minute item can be agonizing. I strategize ways to get in, get around, and get out quickly to avoid all the shopping carts.
My wife wonders how I can be patient with some things but then have so little patience for traffic and lines. I think I know why. I consider only the cars — those mechanical things on four wheels — and I forget that there is at least one very real person inside. I tend to see only the shopping carts filled to the brim, and I fail to see the person pushing that cart. It’s easy to become frustrated with inanimate objects and fail to consider the person connected to that object. I simply "dehumanize" what gets in my way.
God has a totally different approach. He talks about a highway — one that hopefully will be crowded! God envisions a long line of people returning from their captivity and coming back to Him. When He talks about inanimate objects like wilderness and desert, mountain and valley, He does so in a way that puts people first. He desires people’s safety and ease over hardships and danger.
The opening line of Isaiah 40 reveals God’s heart when He says, "Comfort, comfort My people." Instead of dehumanizing, God “humanizes” in the most special way when He became God in the flesh! He came to earth with a specific purpose: to see people!
I could try during this season, like so many others, to surround myself with stuff. I might even prefer to hide in the warmth of a cozy home instead of making a cold and dark journey to some gathering or worship service. I could try to disappear behind things — except for the fact that God simply won’t let me. He still sees me.
He looks past all my things and seeks me out. He knows that I am one of those who truly need His comfort. For some reason He values me as one of His own, one for whom it was worth sending His own Son into this world. Our Savior comes looking past objects, and He sees all these people — me included.
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