A Counselor And Comforter
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen! Isaiah 9:6-7
There is beauty to be found in parenting. Take last night for example. My wife and I had a nice afternoon after work, and then, the fireworks began. I hear her over the phone discussing with our daughter about the expectations that were set and how she had failed to meet them … again. This I’m sure is not abnormal from most households with children. They do what they do, and while most times they do what they ought to, sometimes they go rogue. If you’re my daughter, ‘rogue’ might as well be her middle name. So, after my wife has vacillated between the ranges of ‘I’m trying to understand here’ to ‘I’m done with you,’ the attention points toward me, the peacemaker, as in:
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)
So after looking up to God and asking, “Why me,” I focus on my wife, Loretta, because if Loretta is not happy, no one is happy! I gently say, “Honey, is everything alright?” She gives that look after her tirade that tells me she realizes I am not our daughter, and her tone softens. “I’m fine.” Not the ‘I’m fine,’ which most men already know is code for ‘You know what you did, and I don’t forgive you. Get out!’ But the actual legitimate ‘I’m fine’ meaning that she was glad I asked and found comfort in that. Next is the artist known as our child, who calls me like clockwork after realizing she has once again burned the proverbial bridge with her mom to the ground. She wants me to patch things up between them. I must help her understand that love really is more than four letters that you say to get out of hot water. It is that 1 Corinthians 13 ‘love.’ But that does not always resonate with a seventeen-year-old young lady. So, I condensed it to this: “Love means that when Mom says do this, you do it when she says it, the way she says it, with no deviation or changes after the fact. Do you get it?” That was my evening. And most of you are wondering what this has to do with a devotion. It is simply to point out that as a father, it is good to be able to wield a few of Christ’s most valuable traits. Sometimes, He’s a comforter, and other times, He’s a counselor. But He’s always there as the loving Good Father!
Jesus fills our every need. If you have read the book of Isaiah, you would know that God is not happy with Israel. A prime example is earlier in the book when Isaiah says:
That is why the Lord’s anger burns against his people,
and why he has raised his fist to crush them.
The mountains tremble,
and the corpses of his people litter the streets like garbage.
But even then the Lord’s anger is not satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike! (Isaiah 5:25)
Doesn’t quite give us the warm and fuzzy feeling about God, does it? This points out the issue at heart, which is God loves us but hates our sinful ways. How can He reconcile this? He thus precursors the solution through Isaiah 9. We read the description of the future Messiah and realize the solution covers all bases. He is our confidant (Counselor), our refuge (Prince of Peace), our fighter (mighty God), and our savior (Everlasting Father). There is nothing we need that Jesus Christ cannot deliver on. So, today’s verses are not only about telling future Christians of the coming of the Lord but also an outlining of who He is and what He will do. We need not worry for Jesus Himself said, “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:31-33)
We can always count on Jesus Christ to be there for us in our time of need. A comedian once said, “If Jesus is the answer, who took my $5?” His point was for us to use a level of discernment when we make such a blanket statement, and it served more importantly as a reminder that Jesus will provide in ways beyond what we can see. Whether it is the highlight of our life or the us falling having to get back up, let us be assured of the simple fact that Jesus can be everything we need Him to be. What role do you need Christ to play in your life today? How can you be assured of Jesus’s ability to be your everything? My prayer is that we rely on Jesus to be there for us whether it be counselor or comforter. Amen.