“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3, NIV)

I have to join the ranks of those who have falsely accused God of not being able to understand the suffering and pain I’ve gone through in the dark days of my life. I tend to think that God is either too distant from such things, or is too holy to experience or understand such things. Either way, I falsely conclude that He is nowhere to be found in my time of greatest need. As I write this devotion, I hope that a few of you out there can relate to what I am saying.

Read the verse one more time. Jesus understood human suffering and pain. God loves us so much that He chose to come into this world and experience the best and the worst of what we go through in this life. As Christians, we often speak of Jesus bearing our sin. I don’t think we often enough acknowledge that He bore our whole human experience. Jesus experienced loss, hunger, death, emotional rejection, physical torture. C.S. Lewis made the very clear point that Jesus, as humanity’s substitute, experienced more suffering than any one of us has or ever will.  If we need someone to relate to our pain and suffering, it is Jesus!

I pray that in your time of need  you turn to the only One who can relate fully to what you are going through.

Jesus!

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church