Long ago, Mars had rivers.

The European Space Agency released pictures in mid October, 2019, of the Nirgal Vallis, a 430 mile long, now dried-up river system. All around the parched branches are canyons and valleys, evidence that water had once carved through this land.

It appears that Mars was once a fertile planet.

Water changes everything.

Where there’s water, there can be life. Civilizations always emerge around waters, because water means drink, food, ability to wash, travel, and nourish crops. Water provides. Water comforts.

The prophet Isaiah was God’s mouthpiece of both warning and comfort. In these verses, he is speaking God’s promise to bring a comfortable life to those that love Him. They will have safety, as a child who is carried on his mother’s side. They will have joy, as one who is dandled on his mother’s knee. Like an overflowing river, like a baby with his mother’s full attention, they will have their needs abundantly met.

Heaven is not far, Isaiah says. It has no lack. Comfortable living is just around the bend.

Our lives dry up at times. They can lose their earthly comforts, their peace, their joys. But we are no lifeless orbiting rock. What was once green can be green again. We have God’s promise.