Reaching Out to God When Pain OverwhelmsSample

“A Man of Suffering”

Scripture reading: Isaiah 53; Matthew 26:36-46; Matthew 27:11-54

Jesus experienced pain in many forms, most notably emotional, relational, spiritual, physical, and grief. He took on human form to come to a world that rejected, betrayed, and spat on him. Mocked, tortured, condemned, beaten, and crucified, he experienced pain far greater than we will ever know so that we might experience forgiveness, redemption, and a restored relationship with our heavenly Father.

We read of Jesus’s agonizing pain when he cried out to his Father to spare his life the night before his crucifixion. “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death” (Hebrews 5:7). On the cross he cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), feeling rejected and abandoned by his Father.

Jesus modeled obedience to God even unto his own unjust, tormenting death, because he knew of the greater purpose in his suffering. As Peter wrote of Jesus, referring to Isaiah 53, "...he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." (1 Peter 2:23-25)

So, what is the fifth and final lesson to us in these devotionals? Don’t give in to the enemy’s temptation to reject God in our pain, but rather trust that God did not cause our pain and that he will use it for a greater purpose than we can fathom.

What do you find most inspiring, instructive, or hopeful in Jesus’s example of suffering?