Suffering and letting God do His will
Christians call this day “Good Friday.”
Why?
It was a day of treachery, cruelty, cowardice, and bloodshed. Judas sold Jesus for silver. Soldiers with dysfunctional consciences inflicted
terrible suffering on Him for sport. Pilate refused to uphold justice for political
expedience. Jesus died; naked, beaten,
alone on a cross. Good? Yes!
His humiliation and death was the ultimate identification with humanity,
broken by sin. "He made himself nothing; he took the humble
position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently
humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross."
(Philippians 2:7-8, NLT) He trusted the Father’s will. Good
Friday was allowed by His Father in heaven to finish the work of saving the
world from sin. Easter’s joy would not
exist without Friday’s darkness.
Are you in a terrible place today? Has the world beaten you
up, life gone wrong, God fallen silent?
Good Friday is your day! Jesus stands
alongside of you. He does not gaze down on you in pity, nor does He
stand apart from you, pointing at you with judgment. With His obedience to suffering for the
mysterious purpose of God, He invites you to deeper faith, to endurance of your
‘cross.’ Our Father can redeem your suffering if
you will trust Him in it. If your own
stupidity or selfishness brought your world crashing down ‘round your head, He
can forgive you and lift you up. If the
cruelty of another has broken you, seeming to steal your life, He can restore.
If the evil of this world has come to crush you, He can rescue you and empower
you. Will you invite Christ Jesus, the suffering Savior, to come and stand with
you? Will you ask for greater faith to endure as you wait for your salvation?
Or, you can hate Him!
If you choose that road, you join the darkness. You extinguish hope. You fall deeper into despair.
God never really explains the ‘why’ of His plan, only the ‘what.’
Was there another way for the Creation
to be reconciled to her Creator? Apparently not. Did our forgiveness require such an awful
price? Apparently so. Can we truly
grasp why God demanded so much from His Son? Not really. So, we trust.
We set aside our demand for an explanation and humble ourselves in
simple faith. “Lord, I believe. Help me
overcome my doubt.” This sometimes
the only prayer we can pray, and it is heard in heaven.
To the sinful and the suffering, to those who are broken on
Good Friday, there is this word from the Word.
Don’t try to rush to Sunday. Let
Good Friday do what God allows it to do, even as you wait.
"For God was
pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to
himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making
peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God
and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has
reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in
his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your
faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.
This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every
creature under heaven." (Colossians 1:19-23, NIV)
_____________________
Jesus Keep Me Near
The Cross
Jesus keep me near the
cross,
There a precious
fountain,
Free to all a healing
stream,
Flows from Calv'ry's
mountain.
Near the cross a
trembling soul,
Love and mercy found
me,
There the bright and
morning star
Shed its beams around
me.
In the cross,
In the cross,
be my glory ever!
‘Till my raptured soul
shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Alfred V. Fedak | Fanny Jane Crosby
© 1988 The Sacred Music Press (Admin. by Lorenz Corporation)
CCLI License # 810055
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