Beauty In The Beast: How To Suffer WellSample

Suffering points to Jesus

There is unfathomable beauty in His pain before any 'beauty in the beast' of human pain. 

Isaiah 53:5 is a paradoxical display of love and healing.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

The paradox here is that there is healing in His wounds. In the natural, a wounded person is in no position to extend sustainable healing to others. How can the wounded bring healing? How can what was broken bring wholeness? The mystery of this love is too weighty for some, but I pray that God opens your heart to see and experience this love like never before. 

His body was broken that you may live.  His blood was shed that you may live. By His stripes/wounds you are healed’ — Isaiah 53:5 

No matter what the healing process looks like in your season of suffering, you can trust that because of His finished work on the cross, this too has an end. Isaiah 53:5 does not say 'by His stripes, you will be healed'. No, by His finished work on the cross, you ARE healed.

Suffering is purposeful

Isaiah 53 shows us that no suffering compares to what Jesus endured for our sake. 

The purpose of His suffering was us. We were the joy set before Him that caused Him to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:2).

Isaiah 53:10 says 'It was the Lord's good plan to crush Him' (NLT).

An uncomfortable question; how can suffering feature as part of God's good plan for us? How can pain be purposeful?

Call to action: Get a pen and paper, and reflect on the times in which you have experienced suffering of any kind. Dig deep, what were the benefits, good outcomes (spiritual, physical, emotional) of that experience? If you can't think of any, let the Scriptures for today's devotional prompt you to think about the purposes of God which are revealed in our suffering, and write those down.

Pain can be seen as purposeful when we ask God to open the eyes of our heart, to see things the way He does and to view our lives through His word. 

The fact that we can see a purpose in our pain does not make the experience any less painful and it in no way undermines our suffering. Instead, a purposeful outlook on suffering says; the will of God for me remains good even when my reality does not look good. A purposeful outlook on suffering prizes the eternal promise of glory over our 'light' and 'momentary' afflictions. 

Whether you've been suffering for a day or for years. Let it sink in that your period of suffering is but a 'moment' when compared to eternity.