HES BEEN THERE He was despised and rejected-a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. Isaiah 53:3 (NLT) When the proverbial storms of life strike, theres a natural instinct inside us that shakes a clenched fist at heaven and cries out, God, how could you ever allow this? You have no idea how much this hurts! We assume that since God is in heaven, He has no concept of suffering, and we begrudge the fact that He would allow us to experience something that He knows nothing about. In truth, if theres anyone who knows anything about suffering, it is Jesus. His short life was so scarred by suffering that the prophet Isaiah identified Him as a man of sorrows. That Hebrew word for sorrows can be alternately translated as anguish, affliction, pain, grief. These werent just things that Jesus experienced on occasion. They were a way of life for Him. We tend to exclusively think of Christs suffering in terms of His crucifixion. But when we read through the gospels carefully, we see Him brokenhearted on several occasions leading up to Calvarys cross. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus and lamented over Israels rejection. He mourned the death of John the Baptist and was moved by the mother who was on her way to bury her only son. In a manner of speaking, God came down and exposed His nerves to us. Jesus didnt sanitize Himself from suffering. He plunged right onto it and experienced it to a greater degree than any of us will or can ever know. Whenever we suffer, its significance isnt lost on God. Hes been there, He understands how hard it is, and He knows how to comfort us in our time of trial. Knowing this has a way of turning our clenched fists into hands held high in praise.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 12:52:16 +0000
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