God Suffers When I Suffer?
“In all their suffering, He suffered, and the angel of His presence saved them. He redeemed them because of His love and compassion; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of the past.” Isaiah 63:9 csb
I have been journeying through the long book of Isaiah. Looking into this man’s life is an incredible story in itself. He was not a popular or well-liked Prophet. Nothing like the beloved Prophet Samuel, when he died the whole nation mourned for a month for him. Isaiah served under 4 kings, and his message that God spoke boldly through him caused his life a lot of grief. But, in chapter 6 it was Isaiah that said, “Send me!” There was a reason God had asked the question “Who shall I send for us?” This man who would speak on God's behalf, and would have to have the longevity and stamina to continue speaking even when the truth hurts. I recently gave a sermon on New Year's about how the truth is more important than our feelings. Truth saves, and feelings do not. So throughout four very different kings, during a time of great prosperity, Isaiah spoke in detail about the nation's coming judgment. No one wanted to hear about sin, accountability, and judgment. But Isaiah carried on with his mission and in the latter chapters of Isaiah, we see some incredible truth about the nature of God.
From another Prophet God declares of Himself that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23). Now that's concerning the wicked who suffer judgment, but what about God's children when they suffer? He tells us how He feels when we suffer in chapter 63 verse 9, “in all their suffering, He suffered…” I read a commentary on this verse and couldn’t agree more, “Isaiah knows the nature of God; that in the afflictions of His people, He is afflicted also. God is not a dispassionate, unfeeling observer when His people suffer. He suffers with them when they are afflicted.” (Guzik). This is the heart of a father! When my kids get hurt, I am hurt for them. I remember when my son had a fever when we were living abroad in Mallorca, Spain. The fever lasted 7 days, and I remember seeing his little warm body curled up on the couch eyes tightly closed and my heart ached for him. I asked the Lord to give me the fever in place of him. Only a father or mother knows the deep care and feelings when their children are hurt.
Our God is very near to us when we hurt. Psalm 34:18 David declares, “The LORD is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.” That is such a wonderful thought to know that our God is a God of compassion and has a deep love for His children. He truly is a good Father. I am learning this more and more as I age and mature in the Lord. I was blessed with this great knowledge and understanding of His characteristic of the God of the Bible. Jesus and the Father are One He said, and its no wonder that the Gospel of Matthew says, “Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:35-36 csb. Our God is a God of compassion and love.
Agape,
Frank
Surviving The Fall
“For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death, and we have an agreement with Sheol (hell)…it will not touch us” Isaiah 28:15
My brother-in-law went skydiving about a year and some months ago for his brothers bachelors weekend. I don’t know what possessed them to jump out a perfectly good airplane at thousands of feet above the earth. Because they were not professionals but thrill seekers, they had to be attached to a professional skydiver. The person they were attached to has hundreds of jumps under his belt. The instructor knows at what altitude you must jump out of the plan at, what angle you need to drop into, and most importantly, when to pull the shoot! Now, imagine for a moment my brother-in-law said, “You know what, I got this gravity and me we have an understanding of one another. I am going to jump myself I don’t need a parachute. In fact I do not need to be strapped to a professional with a parachute.” What is the likelyhood somneone would survive that jump? I would say it is not likely he would not survive at all!
We see in our text above a statement made to the people of Samaria. They were called to repent and turn to the God of Israel. Isaiah has been pleading with them to seek the Lord. Yet, as they listened to Isaiahs instructions, they mocked Isaiah, and the Lord. They say what many today say about death, and it goes something like this, “I don’t need to be a Christian or believe in Jesus Christ. God and I have an understanding of one another, we have an agreement.” Those are fatal words. That understanding is as foolish as saying you do not need a parachute to survive jumping out of an airplane at ten thousand feet. Why do people say and do such things I will never understand. But in the preceding verse 14, the Lord calls them “scoffers” which gives us some insight on why they are saying such things. The word for scoffer in Hebrew is similar to that of a bragging person. It is because they are prideful and pride blinds. Therefore, they have blinded themselves from impending doom.
In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:5 the Lord Jesus declares this, “Blessed (happy) are the humble, for they will inherit the Earth.” A humble man or women can see their need for a parachute. A humble person understands that on their own, they will not survive jumping out of the plane, and gravity will win. The humble man or women acknowledges his or hers sinful state and knows they need saving. The problem with the proud is they don’t know they are falling. They don’t know this because their pride has blinded them from the truth, death will take them. Thanks be to our God and Father who sent His only begotten Son Jesus, to be our instructor that we attach our lives to save us! It is only in the Lord Jesus that we will escape the teeth of death like a bird (Psalm 124:7). If you are not secured in Christ, if you are not bound to Jesus, you are blind and don’t see the ground approaches quickly. You are in a fallen state of sin. Sin has an ugly baby which is…death (James 1:15). Cling to Jesus, be attached to Christ, He is the only way of surviving the fall of mankind.
Agape,
Frank