DIANA SCHEIDLER | GUEST

Suffering. No one wants to suffer. Yet we all do.

What does it look like to suffer? What does it mean to suffer? It looks different for everyone. We all walk a different path in life. However, we all have a suffering servant who has gone before us who bore all our sin and shame. He now comes alongside us in our suffering to remind us that we are not alone. He knows what it is to suffer. Indeed, the suffering He endured was so much more than we will ever have to endure.

Suffering can, does, and will take on many forms. Chronic and terminal illnesses, infertility, loss, divorce, unruly children, desires that never come to fruition, and familial difficulties are just a few of the ways that we suffer here on earth. Can joy be found even among these difficult times? When keeping your eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ, our suffering servant, yes. Joy can be found.

In my own life, I have gone through various trials that have caused me and my family to suffer. The biggest one that has caused all of us to suffer long though, was receiving my multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in February of 2015, just a year and a half after my husband and I were married. While those two words were scary to hear, we finally had an answer as to why my body always seemed to react negatively. I dealt with numbness and tingly legs and face. I struggled (and still do) with leg spasms. There are times when I am unable to think of words and come up with silly sounds instead. I stumble and I fall, and I get overwhelmed by too many sounds easily. And yet, the Lord has been so gracious to me even within this diagnosis. He has never left me and never will. When I cry out to Him in pain, He restores my soul for He is with me. When I ask Him, “Why, Lord?” the answer is a peace that surpasses all understanding for I know it is within His plan. And His plan is so much higher and greater than my own.

Jesus’ Suffering on Our Behalf

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

 As Jesus set His eyes towards the cross where His very life would be taken away by human hands, He went willingly. In Gethsemane, as He prayed to His Heavenly Father, He said “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14: 36). Even as He was on the cross, taking on all of humanity’s former, current, and yet to occur sins, Jesus cried out to His Father, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? Which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). And at that moment, it was finished.

It was at that moment when Christ perished, He did it for us. He did it for you. He did it for me. We are told in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke that the curtain in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The curtain of the temple had been a sign that only the holy were allowed into the temple to speak with the Lord. Only the high priest could enter in and seek forgiveness of sins for the people. When the curtain was torn—when Jesus took on our sin and shame—we were given the gift to go to our Heavenly Father whenever we need. We can now cry out to our Lord just as Christ did when our sufferings become unbearable and He hears us. He sees us. He cares for us.

Joy in God’s Presence

But it does not end there. Jesus defeated death. He rose three days later just as He said He would and showed His disciples His hands and His side (John 20:27) so that they might believe. He defeated death so that those who believe will spend eternity in heaven with Him when their time here on earth is complete.

Our Savior Jesus Christ understands suffering. He went to the cross having shed tears like blood (Luke 22:44), knowing the pain and agony that He was about to endure was for our sake, so that we might be united to Him and the Father once again. Without Him willingly taking our place—without Him becoming the suffering servant—we would still be far from God. And Jesus loved us so much that He willingly endured the cross so that we can come near to our Father.

Our suffering here on earth is part of the Fall and Jesus came to draw us near even in our sufferings. There will be days and have been days that make us feel like we can’t go on one more day. But always remember that our Savior, Jesus Christ, bore so much more than we will ever have to, and we can go to Him with all our pain and our doubts because by His death, we may now enter God’s presence. Because of that truth sisters, we can have joy.

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith, we our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 1:19-23)

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash