Comfort. The first word in this group of chapters. Is that what a mighty God brings us? I say, You bet!
So many of these verses are well-known thanks to Handel. I can’t help but sing them! ‘…Bring good tidings to Zion’; ‘He shall feed his flock…’; …’The crooked straight’…. And other works from other songwriters come to mind here.
‘When You’re Weary, He Will Renew Your Strength, Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they will rise on wings of eagles, They shall run and not weary, walk and not faint.’
Soar On Wings Like Eagles - Psalms & Palms [Isaiah 40:31]
Isaiah teaches that we are servants of Christ. Yet being a servant can be in simple ways- in ways that we can easily understand. ‘He was showing His love, and that’s how He hurt His hands.’
The Hand Song - Nickel Creek, Kats Jo
A friend introduced me to the songs of Katy Nicole. This song is the one he said brought him hope and peace through his years of incarceration, and years where he didn’t have control. ‘I might not be able to part the waters, might not be able to calm the storms ... good thing I’m not alone, I’m standing in the confidence that even though I can’t, my God can!’
My God Can - Katy Nicole with Naomi Raine
The hardest part about our lives is the refiner’s fire we are each required to go through. My friends often talk of their time in prison as refining them. I certainly have gone through painful trials, just as you have. And I’m still wondering why I’ve had to face those things, and when will it get better?
Did you break me down just to make me whole? Like quilting. Why cut up good fabric into a bunch of little pieces just to sew them together again?
‘You were reaching in the heat of it all, turns out, it was there that I was changed. Every flame forged my faith... Set my hope ablaze.. Made my darkest days a whole lot brighter.’
Walk Through Fire - Ben Fuller
It’s all about what we are being made to be. Like Him. Someone mighty.