Just words

Isaiah 37:6 Do not be afraid because of the words you have heard…

I have always felt afraid of bad news, but then again, who does not fear that?  I remember well the day the doctor said to me “Your father is dying” even though it was over 20 years ago now, and more recently when the hospice nurse said, “Your mother has probably a few more hours.”  Both were fearful words to have to hear and yet, as the prophet Isaiah told King Hezekiah in this verse, I actually was not afraid of those words when I heard them.  I knew that God was going to take care of them and of me and our family and that their “fate” was already a secure one.  So when my father took his last breath I felt a blanket of peace fall over me, and when my mother breathed her last some 20 years later that same comfort arrived in the room.  I did not have to be afraid because of any mere words.  God had all in control.  They are just words and words cannot do any harm.