Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Willing Suffering
Isaiah 53
JESUS CHRIST WHO RESTORES
V10a “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,”

What does it mean to be in the will of God?  Is His will always benevolent and a blessing?
As children of God, we want to believe that we are living within His will.  But we never think that the bad things that happen to us… the failed marriage, the broken arm, the destroyed relationship, the terminal illness, the earthquake… are part of God’s plan.
In Isaiah 53, Isaiah describes this person, commonly believed to be the Messiah, in very stark terms.  He “had no beauty or majesty” (v.2) and “was despised and rejected by mankind” (v. 3), “(taking) up our pain and (bearing) our suffering” (v. 4).  But the people saw these negatives and “considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted” (v. 4).  
We do the same thing.  We equate ugliness, rejection and suffering with being outside the will of God.  But this passage clearly states that “it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer” (v. 10a).  Isaiah makes it crystal clear that the “suffering” of this servant is within the will of God.  It is not a punishment but part of God’s plan.  
This understanding can change our perspective.  We consider Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be blessed but the woman who bled for 12 years is to be pitied.  Aren’t they both within God’s will?  What about King Solomon, whose riches and wisdom are unparalleled, versus Jesus who died on the cross?  Where is God’s will clear?  Each lash and punch and insult to Jesus was precisely constrained within God’s will.
Does knowing that our pain is the Lord’s will change our perspective on our current circumstances?  Can we rest in the assurance that this season of suffering may be difficult, but it is under God’s will?  Can that knowledge ease some of our anxiety and 
worry? Does the understanding that the will of God can involve suffering alter how we perceive others who are similarly afflicted?  Can we turn from viewing them as outside of God’s will and punished by Him to being part of God’s greater story?  
 
Prayer
Father, open our eyes to the realities of living within Your will… realities that will include sadness and joy, sickness and health, suffering and happiness.  May we be like Your Son Jesus Christ and bear all these things precisely because they are within Your will.  May our hearts also be pierced with the pain suffered by Your servants and show them Your compassion and love.  Amen.
Thought for the Day
 Willing suffering perfects willing sacrifice.

Merry Thomas, Horeb Mar Thoma Church, Los Angeles, CA

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