AUGUST 9, 2012
Comfort
In Captivity
Read: Isaiah 39:5–40:5
Comfort,
yes, comfort My people! —Isaiah 40:1
On February 10, 1675, 50 colonial families in
Lancaster,
Massachusetts, feared possible Native American raids.
Joseph
Rowlandson, the Puritan minister of the village,
was in Boston pleading with
the government for protection,
while Mary, his wife, stayed behind with their
children. At
sunrise, the settlers were attacked. After some of the settlers
were killed, Mary and other survivors were taken captive.
Mary experienced both kindness and cruelty from her
captors.
The Native Americans, aware of the religious nature of the settlers,
gave her a Bible they had confiscated. Later she would write in
her memoirs
about God’s “goodness in bringing to my hand so
many comfortable and suitable
scriptures in my distress.” God’s
Word was her great comfort until she was
ransomed by the
colonists on May 2.
As the nation of Judah waited to be taken into
captivity by a
foreign power (Isa. 39:5-7), the despair of its people must have
been great. But even in that dreadful anticipation, God’s words
brought
comfort: “The word of the Lord which you have spoken
is good!” (v.8).
Have you been taken captive by circumstances beyond
your
control? If so, read and meditate on the Word. And experience God’s
comfort.
Upon Thy Word I
rest, so strong, so sure;
So full of comfort
blest, so sweet, so pure,
Thy Word that
changest not, that faileth never!
My King, I rest
upon Thy Word forever. —Havergal
God’s
Word is the true source of comfort.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
