Isaiah has a reputation for being complicated to understand, but there is a beautifully simple message in this week’s scripture block. It gets better! For anyone going through trials or hard times, Isaiah 40-49 was written for you. Comfort ye, because through God’s power, anything is possible.
Segment 1
Scriptures:
Isaiah 43:1-7 (Trust in the God that knows us)
Isaiah 42:9, 48:6 (New things and hidden things)
Segment 2
Scriptures:
Isaiah 40:1 (Comfort ye)
Segment 3
Scriptures:
Isaiah 41:9 (Thou art a servant)
Isaiah 42:1 (Christ is a servant)
Isaiah 45:4 (A servant as Israel)
Isaiah 44:26-28 (King Cyrus is God’s servant)
Isaiah 43:10 (We are witnesses of God)
Segment 4
Scriptures:
Comfort in God’s Power Scripture Chain:
Isaiah 40:3-8 (Declare His power)
Isaiah 40:15,17 (We are nothing compared to Him)
Isaiah 40:28-31 (He gives power to the faint)
Isaiah 41:17-18 (He is there when we are thirsty)
Isaiah 42:15-16 (He gives light to the blind)
Isaiah 45:5-7 (God is the sun)
Isaiah 47:7-11 (He conquers all evil)
Segment 5
Scriptures:
Isaiah 49:1-6 (The Servant’s Song)
Isaiah 49:13 (Sing and be joyful)
Isaiah 49:15-17 (God cannot forget us)
3 Nephi 11:14-15 (Feel the prints)
Words of the General Authorities:
Even though the power of the Resurrection could have—and undoubtedly one day will have—completely restored and made new the wounds from the crucifixion, nevertheless Christ chose to retain those wounds for a purpose…The wounds in his hands, feet, and side are signs that in mortality painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect, signs that tribulation is not evidence that God does not love us. It is a significant and hopeful fact that it is the wounded Christ who comes to our rescue. He who bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love, the emblems of humility and forgiveness is the Captain of our Soul. That evidence of pain in mortality is undoubtedly intended to give courage to others who are also hurt and wounded by life, perhaps even in the house of their friends. (Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon, pg. 258-259)
Segment 6
Scriptures:
It Gets Better Scripture Chain:
Isaiah 41:10-14 (Fear not and be not dismayed)
Isaiah 43:1,5 (Fear not, God is with you)
Isaiah 44:2,8 (Fear not and be not afraid)
Words of the General Authorities:
When I left for the mission field 66 years ago, my father handed me a card. He had written on it four words spoken by the Lord, who, when He had received news of the death of the daughter of the centurion, said: “Fear not: believe only” (see Luke 8:50). (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Fear Not; Only Believe”, January 2000 Ensign)
Read the transcript here.