“Before she travailed, she brought forth;
Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy.
“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?
Can a land be born in one day?
Can a nation be brought forth all at once?
As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.
“Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD.
“Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.
“Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her;
Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,
That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts,
That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.” (Isaiah 66:7-11)

God can fix problems in unexpected ways. A common human failing is to imagine we know how things are going to work out, how a given problem is going to be fixed. Israel had gone into Babylonian exile. As a nation, it had been destroyed. It had ceased to exist. Now, God promised that the nation would be restored all at once. That was precisely what happened when Cyrus issued his decree around 536 BC that the people of Israel were to return and rebuild their shattered homeland—only seventy years after the first deportation in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. With that decree, on a single day, the nation had been restored. All at once, upon the arrival of thousands of refugees sent back home, the depopulated capital was suddenly crowded.

Just as the people of Israel had mourned the destruction of their capital, their temple and their homeland, so they would rejoice when they were at last able to return and restore their fortunes.
God does not punish endlessly. Suffering does not endure without end. Someday, too, the current crisis, the current moment of pain will end and we will once again be happy. If nothing else—and it is far more than nothing—we have an eternity with God to look forward to.

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