When we look at Christ on
the cross, we have to realize that God knows all about suffering – endless
suffering – unjustifiable suffering. Yet, we rail at Him with accusations as if
He causes the affliction in our lives. Sin caused all the suffering in the
world. God wanted us to live in Paradise. He created it just for us. He walked
in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and enjoyed fellowship with them there.
That was God’s plan for humanity.
However, Adam and Eve took
the control of their lives into their own hands, just like we do with ours.
They chose to rebel against God and to believe Satan’s lies over God’s truth (Romans
1:25). They chose to take pleasure in
unrighteousness rather than to walk as God directed them to do (1
Thessalonians 2:12). We do the same
thing with our life. We allow Satan to blind our eyes to God’s Word (2
Corinthians 4:4). We blame everything
bad that happens in life on God and we take all the credit for everything good
that occurs. We cannot make sense of our loss and deprivation, so we blame it
on God; but where is the sense in this?
Jesus took upon Himself the
evil of this world in His death, and He conquered it through His resurrection.
His victory over the sting of death gives us hope of a new tomorrow waiting for
us just around the corner (1 Corinthians 15:55). When life tramples us into the ground, Jesus reaches down from the
cross and lifts us back up again. All He asks from us is that we completely
surrender our life to Him. He wants us to accept His salvation of our spirit,
His reconciliation of our soul and His everlasting life that starts for us the
moment we humble our self and pray. If we do this, He will also glorify our
body when He comes for us (Philippians 3:21).
God is with us every time we
experience pain or loss in life. We are the ones that hold Him at arm’s length
and close our heart to His healing power. We turn our back on Him and walk away
as if He is evil. We fall into deception and live our life for the devil, who
is the true author of evil and suffering. Satan’s purpose is to steal, kill and
destroy (John 10:10). God
just wants to heal us and make us complete in Him (Colossians
2:10).
True joy comes from Christ
within us. He is our hope of glorious opportunities now and the glories of
Heaven for eternity (Colossians 2:27). God is the strength of our life (Psalm 27:1). Only in turning to the Lord and trusting in Him will we find
tranquility and confidence as our strength (Isaiah 30:15). The fruit of living a righteous life is peace, repose and
eternal assurance. We will live in serene dwelling places, protected homes and
undisturbed places of rest (Isaiah 32:17-18).
Only God knows what our
future holds. As we trust in Him, He reveals His will to us one moment at a
time. This requires faith in the unseen and hope in Him to do what is always
best for us (Romans 8:28). God
holds the power over life and death and the struggles and victory in between.
In this world, we will have tribulation; but we can be cheerful, because Jesus
already walked through this before and He lives within us. He is facing every
trial right along with us (John 16:33; Colossian 1:27; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews
4:15).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You were despised and rejected. You
were a man of sorrows and acquainted with the deepest grief. You can relate to
everything we experience in our life. Remind us not to turn our backs on You
and to pretend that our sin did not nail You to the cross. You were despised
during your lifetime, and You are still despised today. People do not care
about You, but You never cease to care about all of us (Isaiah 53:3).
Thought for the Day:
God wants to give us heaven
on earth.