Good Friday

As I sit here writing, I'm looking out the window at dark clouds, rain, and hail. How appropriate for Good Friday. In Matthew 27:45 it says, From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

Jesus hung on the cross during those three hours of darkness. For you, for me, for the world. If you saw the movie, The Passion of the Christ, you may have cried, cringed, or or turned your head away as Christ hung on the cross.

We sing about the cross, we wear the cross, we talk about taking up our cross. But do we think deeply about Christ hanging on the cross? It's almost too painful. Yet meditating on the cross causes gratefulness to well up in our hearts and increases our love for Jesus. One of the most amazing verses in the Bible is Hebrews 12:2.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

How can joy and cross be in the same sentence? Our dear Savior looked beyond the suffering He was experiencing on the cross and saw future joy. He gave us the ultimate example of how to go through suffering.

Hebrews 12:3 says, Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

What lessons can we learn from the cross and Jesus' suffering?

1. God loves us more than our finite minds can comprehend. The cross proves that beyond a doubt.

2. What we think about as we go through suffering influences our ability to endure. We have a choice to think about Jesus' example as He suffered or to dwell on the circumstances which causes us to worry, give up, or worse.

3. Jesus scorned the shame, or disgrace, of the cross. The cross was reserved for criminals, yet Jesus disregarded, snubbed, and shunned the humiliation of the cross. He knew who He was and where He was going. Is there shame in our lives that we need to shun? It could be something from our past that the enemy tries to discourage us with. We are forgiven because of the cross. Our identity is in Christ, not in our past. We are new creations.

4. Jesus showed us that suffering does not last forever. Our hope lies in the fact that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. Because He lives, we know that someday we will also live with Him in heaven, never having to suffer again.

May we think deeply about Christ's sacrifice for us as we prepare for the glorious celebration that is coming - Resurrection Day!

Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Yesterday I experienced a horrible pain day which included a foggy brain. Most of the time the fibromyalgia I've lived with for 25+ years is manageable through nutrition, exercise, and stretching. However, once in a great while it lays me low, and I go through the day thanking God that "this too shall pass" and not getting much done.

I thought I had accepted pain as a way of life until a day like yesterday hits me like a sack of cement and knocks me off my feet. It's not just the physical pain that's difficult, but the emotions that go with it. People who live with chronic pain have to deal with down-in-the-dumps days, and I'm no exception.

BUT. . .we have a Savior who suffered more than we ever will. He experienced excruciating pain as the nails were pounded into His hands and feet on the cross. Then He was separated, for the first time, from His Father in heaven, in order to take on the crushing sins of the world. . .my sin! And He did this voluntarily.

First John 3:16 says,

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

When I go through a bad pain day, I face the temptation of wanting to back off and not fully follow God the rest of my life. The enemy puts thoughts in my head that I have a right to take it easy because of my pain.

I say to that: Hah! God takes me to verses like the one above, and I once again fall on my face in gratitude for what Christ has done for me. He not only gave me eternal life, but abundant life here on earth. There is no greater joy than knowing God loves me and that He gives meaning and purpose to my life through serving.

There will always be a battle between the flesh and the spirit until we're out of these bodies. However, God is greater than Satan. My prayer for us is that we will live out Hebrews 12:2-3:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Christ laid down His life for the joy set before Him. There is purpose in the pain that God allows in our lives. When we scorn the pain and lay down our lives for others, joy comes!