August 10, 2020 – Click here to listen
A.W. Tozer once wrote: “It is doubtful whether God can use a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply”. David Wilkerson preached: “In order for someone to have passion for Christ, they must first be baptized in anguish”.
How do hurt and anguish enable someone to be used greatly by God and invoke passion for Christ?
Hmmm . . .
Jesus suffered as no one has ever suffered or ever will. When we suffer we understand some of what He went through. We should be aware however that there is one HUGE difference between our suffering and that of Jesus. We suffer because of our sin and a fallen world. Jesus never sinned and voluntarily suffered as none before or after Him in order that we might be forgiven those sins and freed from suffering for all of eternity.
Perhaps those who have walked through the fire of hurt and tragedy have a greater appreciation for what Jesus did than someone who has been spared those trials. I was always perplexed by the Bible verse in Isaiah – But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief;
I didn’t get the verse “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief . . . ” It had a sadistic ring to it to me.
But then I read the rest of the passage: “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities . . . I came to understand that He wasn’t pleased at hurting Jesus, but rather by the fact that the world would be redeemed through His effort of offering His life as a perfect sacrifice whereby God who is holy could accept it as payment for all of the sins of those who choose to follow Him.
I think God looks at our suffering similarly. It is not the suffering, but the result of it that pleases Him.
One example might be when the Apostle Paul experienced the anguish of being blind for three days. I don’t think for a minute that God took pleasure in the terror that Paul experienced during that period of his life, rather what would come of it.
After his sight was restored Paul immediately quit persecuting and putting Christians to death and instead preached the Gospel with fervor all over the world. As a result of his service for the Lord he suffered even more, only this time he willingly did it for the Lord. Paul explained his new attitude in Col. 1:24: – I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. Paul knew that his suffering would result in millions of lost souls finding redemption and he reveled in it.
Have you suffered, been deeply hurt, experienced anguish, tragedy, unrelenting grief and pain? If so, consider that God has prepared you to have passion for Christ and to be used greatly in His service. Look at it as a blessing rather than a curse. You now have an inkling of what Jesus Christ voluntarily endured on the cross, because He loves you with all of His heart. How can you not love Him and want to do whatever you can in His service? Selah . . .
Matt. 5:10
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.